Spoils of War
by Angle1
Summary: Kaoru is a geisha in a war torn city. She is taken by a red-headed samurai and is forced to become his slave. Does this pretty geisha have what it takes to stand up to the demon she loves? Will Kenshin be able to keep his distance? AU KK
1. My Hero?

A/n New story time. Bad idea, but I figured you would like something different to read for a while. I write this story to fight off writers block with the help of a favorite book. Review if you feel I should continue with this story.

Disclamer: I don't own Kenshin or the plot of Louise Allen

I give this chapter a PG-13 rating.

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Chapter 1

A low growl echoed off the empty streets. The three struggling figures paused and looked up the street. There was nothing but smoke. The men figured they had imagined it, but the geisha they held heard it too. Kaoru stopped fighting and squinted into the smoke, but she too saw nothing. She sagged in their grip as something in the burning shop across the street exploded. Small bits of burning wood and bamboo rained down on the dirt road.

Was the sound real? It was louder than her cries and the harsh laughter, threats and curses from the men. What kind of beast made that sound anyways? And what would it be doing in the middle of a large city? But Kaoru knew that anything was possible. Her city was being destroyed by rogue samurai. Savage barbarians. Thousands of them poured into the city, set it ablaze. Honorable men turned on each other to saves themselves. It was not so unbelievable that a beast would wander the deserted streets.

Out of the corner of her eyes, Kaoru spotted the crumpled body of a young girl. A maiko. A geisha in training. Kaoru had been in charge of teaching the ten year old. The brutal men pulled her from behind Kaoru and threw the maiko against the wall. She hit with such force, she fell and hadn't moved since.

"There's nothing there." Grunted one of the men. "Must be the fires." All around them sounds of weakened buildings groaned in the distance. The sound was ominous, almost as bad as the silence in the streets.

"The girl heard it too." The second one argued, he jerked Kaoru roughly by the arm to shake her out of her daze. "Didn't you, pretty little bitch?" his face was raked with scratches. They stood out angry and red, some even bled a little.

"Yes, yes I heard it." Kaoru said in her soft geisha voice. Shrinking down, trying to look as pathetic as she could. "A beast brought in by the savages no doubt, you should run, it might be dangerous."

How often had Kaoru walked by men like these? Citizens not rich enough to buy time from a pretty geisha. Never to live in the small fantasy she created. A wonderful hostess, a perfect woman. Not long ago Kaoru would have perhaps flirted with one of them with just a glance as she walked down the street. Now that their world was turned upside down and one of the pretty, elegant creatures had fallen right into their hands, free for the taking to fight off the terror of the danger.

But this icon of femininity had fought back. Scratching with her perfect manicured nails, hitting and kicking them in the shins and knees. She bit them when she could. The other girl, the young miako lay, most likely dead, and was no fun at all to them.

The larger man snorted. "A stray dog, nothing else." He sneered as he turned his attention back to the woman. He wrapped a large hand around the delicate column of her neck and held her still as he reached with his free hand to work away the folds of her priceless kimono.

Kaoru twisted, not allowing her fear to paralyze her, but the hand on her throat only squeezed tighter. A desperate cry escaped her as she felt the hot, rough flesh of his hand reach her bare skin and grasp one of her breasts.

"Kami." The second man's voice trembled as a second much louder and longer growl sounded. The smoke swirled and a large ginger colored wolf padded out not a dozen feet from them. It stopped and lowered its head to watch them. Kaoru gasped when she caught sight of the beast.

It had electric yellow-green eyes that gazed at them with such indifference, it was chilling. More so than if he glared at them in aggression. The animal growled again, one lip curled up to show a long, white fang. Then, out of nowhere, there came a sharp whistle, and the wolf stalked away, walking around them to stand behind them.

The men scrambled to turn around, dragging Kaoru with them. They watched the wolf prowl until it slowly vanished into the smoke.

"Damn thing is gone." The taller man said with false confidence. "Let's get away from these fires and find a place to enjoy ourselves." They turned; hauling Kaoru with them, but then froze. Kaoru gazed off into the smoke as it slowly parted around another figure. A man.

He stood there, in full samurai armor. He had no helmet, so his hair flowed freely. It was blood red, tied in a top knot and disappeared well past his shoulders. His armor was adorn with gold accents, but other than that, was plain. He had a short and long Katana strapped to his side. There was very little expression on his delicate, almost feminine face. He watched them just as the wolf had, with intense glowing eyes. He showed no emotion and wasn't threatening. But even Kaoru could feel his ki. It was wound tight, ready to spring into action.

Kaoru forced herself to think. Top knot, samurai armor and katana, he was one of the savage rouges attacking the city. But her current enemies were beside her, holding her. They were her own people. Did this man mean danger or safety? What should she do?

The men decided to move. They gripped Kaoru by both arms and half lifted her off her feet to drag her as they slowly backed away.

Kaoru made a decision.

She hung limp in their arms, forcing them to drag her dead weight.

"Drop her." one of the men said as if to a dog, obviously deciding that she was more trouble than she was worth.

Kaoru felt herself fall hard on her wooden sandals. In anger, she turned and struck one man with her fist. He saw her just in time to move away but she was still able to hit his ear. The man roared in pain and lashed out, hitting Kaoru across the face with a slap. The force sent the geisha stumbling against his larger friend. There was a grunt and Kaoru lost her support. Teetering, Kaoru looked to find the larger man sprawled on the ground, a small tanto sticking out of his neck. She looked up at the samurai. It didn't look like he moved a hair. The second man found his feet and fled. But he didn't get more than a dozen steps before the wolf leapt out of the smoke and stopped him. The man skidded on his heals and fell on his backside. He tried to scramble backwards away from the beast, but a deep growl warned him to hold still.

The samurai moved then, closing the distance between him and Kaoru. He paused at her side. "They do that to her?" he jerked his head in the direction of the girl on the ground. Kaoru fell to the dirt beside the girl and nodded. She touched the child's lightly painted face, she was already growing cold. Kaoru watched as the samurai silently moved forward. There was a soft sound of metal on metal as he drew his katana in one fluid motion. Kaoru turned away, and forced herself to look at her young charge. There was a whimper, then a sob that was cut short, followed by a thud.

Silence

Kaoru fumbled dumbly with the girl, searching for any signs of life. A pulse, a breath. But there was nothing. Fear made her mind numb. She was safe from the men, but what about the samurai that saved her? Was she safe from him?

"Is she dead?"

Kaoru turned her head slightly, only enough to see his feet as the samurai stop beside her. She watched him rip off a scrap of cloth from the man with the dagger in his throat and used it to clean the blood from his sword.

Kaoru felt her stomach turn and she looked back at the child. "She is. They threw her into the wall. She is just a tiny thing." _She didn't even want to come with me to search for our geisha sisters. She would harm a thing. She was so frightened_. The child was at piece now, no longer afraid. _I couldn't protect her._

The samurai crouched down beside Kaoru. She immediately noticed that he was not as tall as most men, but his aura was overpowering. He smelled of sweat, blood, of metal and leather. Strange, alien things. He reached out and closed the child's startled dark eyes. His gentleness surprised Kaoru. He used the utmost care as he lifted her from the dirt street. Kaoru felt tears prickle the back of her eyes. _I must not cry. Not in front of this man. An enemy, an inferior._ She had been sent out on this fools errand by "Mother" the head of the geisha house. Mother stayed behind the high stone walls and oversaw the boxes of priceless kimonos, coins and other treasures hidden, buried under the stone step stones that dotted the garden in the center of the geisha house. Mother always knew what was most important. Finding new girls to train was not so hard. Starting a geisha house all over again was another matter.

Kaoru blinked out of her thoughts as the Samurai walked across the street to the burning building. _What is this man thinking?! _"Wait!" She cried out, lifting her kimono and rushing to catch up to him. She watched in horror as he navigated his way deeper into the burning building and set the girl on the burning grass mats.

"What are you doing?!" She shouted as he returned to the street. She tried to run past him. The man caught her and pushed her back with a flick of his arm. "That's no way to treat the dead, it's savage!"

"You want to leave her on the dirt where the bugs and dogs will pick at her?" he said in a cruel tone. He grabbed her by the wrist and half walked, half dragged her from the sight.

Kaoru glared up at him and was startled by his amber eyes. They swirled, almost as if alive, like the fire that burned behind him. As much as she hated the thought of her charge burning up in a shop, the idea of her left on the street to be food for animals and no doubt ran over by many carts and horses as people rushed to leave was unthinkable.

The red-head took her to an alleyway. Here the air was cool and Kaoru gulped in the air like a half drowned man. She turned and eyed the red fires. "The fire will spread." She worried for her Mother at the geisha house. She worried for her real mother and father and for her siblings. Were they all safe?

The samurai followed her gaze with a shrug. "But not this way, the wind pushes it to the edge of the city." He lifted his head, nostrils flared as if to catch a scent. He was a hunter aware of everything.

Kaoru realized he had let her go, but she gripped his forearm tightly. She wanted to let go and jump away, but she could not. There was a crack overhead and Kaoru looked up in time to see a chunk of smoldering wood fall. It would land on the samurai's head. Kaoru lunged forward and swung her hand over his head, knocking the wood away before it could hit. She sucked in her breath as she felt the sting from the burning wood.

The man looked amused. As if surprised a geisha girl could react so quickly. He took her palm and looked at the angry red marks. They were nothing. "The pain will only last a moment. Thank you." He let go of her hand. "What is your name?"

Kaoru sputtered for a moment. "I'm Manami." she paused, realizing she had given her geisha name. " I'm Kamiya Kaoru." She clasped her hands in front of her and made a smooth low bow that only came with years of training.

The man frowned slightly and he looked down at her. "Your father. Did he teach the Kamiya Kasshin style swordsmanship?"

"Yes." Kaoru straightened up with a smile. "You've heard of my father?" perhaps this man knew her father and would take pity on her and take her back to her parents home.

"You're father is in politics isn't he?" the Samurai asked.

Kaoru's smile slipped, but ever the graceful geisha, she fell right back into the mask. "I wouldn't know what my father does in his free time. I see very little of him. It is not for him to speak of such things to me."

"Quite." The man agreed, eyes narrowed. "I'm Himura Kenshin. Fourteenth generation of the Hiten Mitsurugi style. Also known as Hitokiri Battousai"

Kaoru had never heard of such a style, but it sounded imposing. "Thank you Himura Kenshin of the Hiten mi-mitsurugi." She stumbled over the unfamiliar words. "I would be grateful of you to escort me to the west end of the city, back to my geisha house. I know Mother will be very happy to have me back. She will not be ungrateful for your assistance."

The wolf padded down the alley from wherever it had been wandering and sat next to his master. His large pink tongue rolled out as he panted in the heat. Two pairs of odd colored eyes gazed at in what she swore was amusement.

"You would be grateful for my escort, Kaoru?" Kenshin's eyebrow shot up in surprise. Of course a pretty woman like her wasn't going to run off again to get caught by another group of hands.

"Kamiya Kaoru." She should know better than to correct such a man. But it was automatic for her to remind this inferior of what her rank was. Even though she was a geisha, she knew her father was of high rank.

Now Kenshin was obviously amused. His lips twitched upward.

"I'm sure they will reward you with coins. My family that is." And her betrothed. But that was a secret no one but her family knew about.

"I can have all the gold I want. And anything else I find of value within these walls." Kenshin gave her a rare smile. It was such a smile that Kaoru felt like she'd been kicked in the stomach. "Why else would we be here?"

"To have your leader speak with Takeda Kanryuu? I know there has been some sort of mix up. About land and supplies." Kaoru was grabbing at straws. She had only half heartedly listened to the men at the parties she hosted as they talked of politics. There had been a rumor amongst the men that while the samurai were keeping their end of the deal. The mayor Takeda thought their price was steep and figured he would pay them what he figured they deserved. Which Kaoru figured wasn't much at all

"We protect this city and surrounding area from hordes of enemies. We keep them from overrunning this land, even as they take over our own." Kenshin growled. "We help with crops and livestock. And what do we get in return? Nothing. Families are going to starve this winter. We were promised land, safety and food. He gives us lies instead." Kenshin hissed.

Kaoru watched the man as he seem to grow in size and tower over her. She felt bad for Kenshin and his people. As savage as they were, they were only trying to survive the treachery of the rich. Even now such papered men in silks were running, talking or buying their way out of danger. "Takeda is not here." Kaoru informed him. "He's on his way to Edo. I doubt you'll reach him there. That city is too strong, even for your kind." And it was over a week's worth of walking to reach it. "The food reserves here are running low." She added, not knowing why she felt compelled to inform him. He and his people pouring into the city would find gold, but not much to eat.

"We know this already." He said. "This is not the time for talking. Come!" he ordered as he turned on his heal and walked away.

Kaoru stood opened mouthed, gazing at Kenshin's back. The samurai armor hid most of is body. Yet Kaoru could see the man under the layers. Broad shoulders carried the heavy armor like it was a silk gi. His hands were delicate looking, yet deadly. One rested on the hilt of his Katana, the other relaxed at his side. Now Kaoru could see that his hair was indeed very long. Even in a top knot, it fell to his hips and brushed his backside. Kaoru hurried after him, lest she be left behind and alone.

"Will you take me to the west side?" she asked again as she hurried to keep up with him. Her kimono restricted her movement and she couldn't match his long strides.

"We might go there." Kenshin said.

Kaoru spotted a man peeking out at them through a window before slamming it shut. A pair of women, both with infants in their arms ran past them, they shrieked when they noticed Kenshin. Everywhere there was smoke. When they reached a large intersection of roads, they were congested with people, all with carts, mules and horses. They were all shouting and shoving to get moving. Kaoru had never seen such a sight. The whole city seemed to be crumbling down around her. It was frightening.

"What do you mean we _may_ go there?" Kaoru demanded. She would go alone if she had to. Though, looking at all this chaos…she didn't want to be alone. The geisha grabbed his forearm and shook him when he didn't answer her right away. Kenshin turned and looked down at her. His eyes had lost their amber glow, now becoming a softer yellow; they lost their deadly chill as he smiled.

Kaoru felt the predator in him. A beast like his wolf pressing just under his skin. And she…she was the rabbit. She let him go and took a step back, her heart hammered from the heat in his eyes. He raked her body up and down with those eyes. Kaoru felt her heart slam to a stop. "No." Kaoru said instinctively. "No, you wouldn't"

"Wouldn't what?" The samurai paused. "Wouldn't ravage you, take you to a dark corner to have my way?" he smirked. "I don't approve of such a thing. You do not have to worry about that with me. Now let's go."

"Are you going to take me home?" She snapped, upset with herself for showing so much fear. "I want to go home." Kaoru pressed.

"What you want is no longer important. You are coming with me. We came to take what is owned to us. Food, gold and silver, horses and slaves." Kenshin said over his shoulder.

"But,…you want me as a hostage?" Kaoru felt renewed fear. Had she jumped from the pan only to land into the fire?

"No." he said simply obviously amused with her again. It annoyed Kaoru deeply, and she didn't know why. Some men poured out information like water from a jug. Getting information from Kenshin was like squeezing water from a rock.

"Our people are already holding a hostage. Takada's sister. That is all we need, hostages are hard work." And the last thing he needed was a hostage to constantly have to watch over.

Kaoru was shocked. Takada's sister was a kind lady who was far more caring and closer to the people than her brother was.

"Now, come."

"Where, why?"

Kenshin turned so fast Kaoru nearly slammed into him. He gazed down at her like a stern father or teacher. "With me, you are now mine. I need a slave and you will do just fine."

"A slave? Me? Are you teasing me?" Please say he was jesting. But he was not smiling. No hint in his emotionless gaze. "No!" Kaoru cried when she realized he spoke the truth. She was like a little bird in a cage being brought up in the geisha house. She didn't know anything about being a slave, and defiantly didn't want to be a slave to murderous savages. She turned around; the chaotic streets that looked so terrifying were now her salvation. She picked up her kimono from around her feet and ran.

She didn't get more than a few feet away, a few dozen steps when there was a blur in front of her. The wolf. It stopped in front of her, blocking her way. "Nice wolf." Kaoru muttered softly in a gentle tone. "Good boy. Stay…sit?" the beast tipped his head to the side as he listened to her. Kaoru turned, seeing that Kenshin never moved, trusting his animal to bring her back. If Kaoru could just make it to an open door of one of the many abandoned homes….

But the wolf padded forward and wrapped its massive jaws around her small wrist. Just pressure, not biting. He wouldn't have crushed a flower with the way he held on to her, but he had the power to rip her hand from her arm if he wanted to. Kenshin whistled and there was a commotion in the crowd and a man on a horse pushed his way though the crowd with a second horse.

Not a man Kaoru realized, a boy, maybe fifteen years old. He had dark spiky hair, dark skin and eyes. He didn't wear any armor, only simple hakama pants, two katana swords and a gi.

"About time. I thought I would have to ride out and find you." The youth snapped down at Kenshin."

"Watch your tongue." Kenshin snapped back. "This is Kaoru. She is going to come with us. Let her ride behind you."

The boy turned in the saddle and gazed down at Kaoru with curious, dark eyes. "Finally, a slave? You promised to find one to cook for us. I'm tired of all the cooking. It is work only women should do."

Kaoru felt unaccustomed anger. She wanted to slap or push that boy right off the horse. "I'm not a slave, and I'm not going anywhere with you. I'm a Geisha."

"Don't argue." Kenshin said calmly as he walked up to her.

_That infuriating man! _"I'm not going. You'll just have to let your wolf attack me. Then I'll be useless to you." Kaoru tipped her head up.

"True." Kenshin said as he swept her up in his arms with ease and the wolf opened his jaws. "But then you wouldn't be any use as a geisha as well." He added as he plopped her down on the horse behind the boy. He pulled free one of the many leather ties that held his armor to his body and used it to lash her hands together "Do not forget you have her with you, Yahiko." He said as he tied the end of the leather belt to the boy's sword belt. "Or she'll land on you when you dismount." The males shared a moment of laughter. "Hold still, you." Kenshin added as Kaoru tried to slide off the other side of the horse. "Yahiko may be a boy but he is big and he will land on you. So sit still and hang on." Although, perhaps letting the boy fall on the delicate thing would be enough to earn her compliance for a while. For half a moment Kenshin thought about shoving the girl off the horse to show her he was right, but he immediately dismissed the idea.

With that, Kenshin mounted the second horse. A thin, ugly roan. "Come Yahiko." Kenshin said softly as he situated himself in his saddle. "Let's find some gold for ourselves."

Kaoru fumed silently when the horse suddenly lurched forward. Kaoru slipped. Gasping in fright she clung to the boy, gripping him by his sword belt. She hated this, but it was better than falling. The hard dirt ground would hurt when she landed, not to mention the boy would be dragged off to land on her and he was almost as big as she was.

The boy turned his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of one eye. "What was your name again? Are you a good cook?" Asked over his shoulder as he struggled to follow his master though the mass of people.

Kaoru cringed inwardly. Cook? Could she cook? She never cooked a day in her life. Simple everyday meals like rice, she could cook that. Anything more was beyond her ability. Perhaps the thought of a bad cook would convince them to let her go. "I'm Kamiya Kaoru and no I'm not a good cook. I don't even know how to cook. I'm a geisha, I have servants to do that." She snapped at the boy, hopping she was loud enough for Kenshin to hear her.

The boy coughed to hide his strangled laughter. "Well you better be a fast learner. Kamiya Kaoru. Kenshin has little patience and is not someone you want to be around if he is hungry." He paused for a moment. "It's good that we have you now. I don't have to kill chickens or fetch water or patch clothes, do laundry or help Kenshin scrub his back. You can do all this now." He said with an approving nod, turning his eyes back in front of him.

_Scrub his back?_ Kaoru felt her checks burn. She turned to look at Kenshin as he rode in front of them. She seethed with anger. _Pish, scrub his back. I'll scrub his back…with a knife. _

Then it was as if Kenshin heard her thoughts. He turned in his saddle and starred at her with warning in his eyes.

Kaoru felt her resolve melt away and she shrunk down to hide behind the boy. This was real and it was scary. Kaoru was tough for a woman in her position in life. But she was not tough enough to stand up to a samurai like Kenshin. Her role as a delicate flower meant nothing to them. She was going to have to try very hard to survive with a man as clever and fearful and Kenshin Himura.

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A/n again, review if I should continue with the story. Ideas are welcomed.


	2. Rob from the Rich

Well it seems the first chapter was good enough for everyone to want it to continue

Well it seems the first chapter was good enough for everyone to want it to continue. I won't update this story on a regular basis as I don't work on this story very regularly. But as soon as my My Love series is over I'll have much more time on my hands to work on this. So until then chapters will come very sporadically.

Spelbound – Yes this story is very cliché. I never would have thought to post it as one of my fics, as it was only to be used as writing exercises. But it had gotten long enough that I thought… what the heck. Lol

RoseCrystal – oh, how close you are :wink:

I give this chapter a PG rating.

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Chapter 2

_Be brave. Be strong Kaoru. _A voiced whispered inside her head. Mocking her, teasing. _When did I ever have to be strong or brave? Do I even have the ability?_ When had she ever needed to be strong? Learning to walk in damn wooden block sandals, having to endure having wax combed into her hair to obtain a proper geisha style; working her fingers till they bled on musical instruments and practicing her dance till she thought her legs would fall off. All this, Kaoru had to be strong for. Leaving her family to live with strangers, trying to be a good enough maiko to be trained up as a geisha, her first time at a party, and having to host all by herself…this she had to be brave for.

But none of this compared to the challenge that lay before her. She had been in the geisha house from the time she was a young child. It was all she really knew. They had servants, slaves to attend to their every need. Kaoru never learned much of anything. She knew her father was a master swordsman and she had inherited his speed and skill for quick thinking. Yet it had all but rotted away in the geisha house. _Learn to talk in the perfect tone of voice. Learn to dance, go to this party, host that party, never be alone with a man. Laugh at every joke; remember to hide your smile. Yes "Mother" that is what is right and proper. _

But being on the back of a horse to be carted away by men was not right, or very proper. How could she fight if she never learned how? Suddenly she wished she had listened to her father when he explained some of his sword fighting techniques to her as a child.

"You want to stop here?" Yahiko shouted, startling Kaoru out of her swirling thoughts. They were well away from the masses of people, and now were at the gates of a small but well cared for estate. "It looks like a poor and shabby place." Yahiko continued.

"With those gates and those locks?" Kenshin asked as he dismounted.

Both Yahiko and Kaoru turned their gazes back to the estate. The gates where freshly painted, the wood good and strong and the locks, numerous and expensive looking. The stone bricks formed a high imposing wall.

Kenshin walked over to the gate and pounded on the unyielding wood. "They want to keep people like us out. Why do you think that is?" Kenshin let the boy think. Kaoru couldn't help but smirk. The walls and gates were much higher and stronger at her geisha home, even at her father's home. But she was impressed with Kenshin as he tried to teach the boy.

No one answered the knock, which was not surprising. Kenshin silently eyed the wall and the small roof that hung over the gates. Then, with a fluid and silent movement, Kenshin leapt high in the air and landed on the roof over the gate. Kaoru gaped at the man as he effortlessly paced the smooth shingles before jumping into to the courtyard.

"You are thieves." Kaoru heard herself say. "The whole lot of you." Though she had no force behind her words, the black fury was apparent in her voice. She felt it burn within her.

The boy turned in his saddle, looking Kaoru square in the face. Kaoru noticed his impossibly thick eyelashes, and his still cute child's nose. His eyes were very dark and at the moment full of spite. "We keep our word, all of us. Your leader is an _oath-breaker_." He put as much malice into his voice as he could, spitting the words out like an obscenity. "A man couldn't be any worse. If you can't trust his word, what is there to trust? He is hardly a man at all. Not fit to lead such a city."

Kaoru was stunned at the wisdom of his words. "It's all politics. Why must the city and it's people suffer because of this man? He was only doing what he thought was right" Why was she sticking up for the idiot? It was all his fault that the samurai were attacking.

Yahiko looked at Kaoru like she suddenly grew a second pair of eyes. "You painted women must know nothing of honor." He shook his head, as if sadden at the discovery. "Your leader broke his word, now he must pay as this city and its people for letting such a fool lead it so blindingly.

Kaoru opened her mouth to argue back. But before she could get a sound out, the large wooden doors swung wide open with a groan. Kenshin stood at the entrance. "They left and abandoned the slaves." He growled

"Lets see what they left." Yahiko perked up at the thought of the raid. Kenshin nodded and whistled. The roan and the wolf followed him into the courtyard. Yahiko's horse fell behind them. Their hooves cracked loudly on the walking stones.

"Where would you hide your money, Kaoru?" Kenshin asked, looking up at the girl.

Kaoru was horrified knowing she was about to witness a poor family get robbed. She could see the shadows move in the corners of the home and in the garden. She spotted wide eyes locked onto them. Fearful eyes.

Kenshin followed Kaoru's gaze to the slaves hiding. "You, come out. I won't harm you."

Kaoru suddenly wanted to laugh. Kenshin looked and sounded like walking death. Yet he won't harm them. But to her amazement, the slaves slowly shuffled out of their hiding spots and one by one stepped closer to Kenshin. They all locked their eyes on to him like prey animals.

Kenshin observed the slaves with hard yellow eyes. "Your master does not treat you well." He stated as he spotted wounded, half starved slaves. Many of the women were spotted with ugly bruises. Kenshin narrowed his eyes even more. The people who lived here were not worthy of their wealth. "Did you happen to see where your master hid his gold before leaving you?"

The slaves all shook their heads. Then, slowly, their eyes slid over to a religious statue sitting off to the side on a rock pedestal.

"Not the kind of place for a man to leave such a statue." Yahiko called out.

"Yes." Kenshin agreed in a deep voice. "Something like that belongs in a family temple." Kenshin watched from the corner of his eyes as a few of the elderly slaves started to smile. Time to investigate. The samurai walked over to the statue and pushed it with both hands. It didn't budge.

Kaoru watched curiously as Kenshin knocked on it with the knuckle of one finger. Then, slowly, Kenshin walked to the back of the statue. The man fell into a low stance, spreading his legs apart and grasped the hilt of his sword.

Kaoru felt herself leaning forward on the horse. The world fell away as she watched the skilled swordsman.

Then, in a blur of motion, Kenshin drew his sword from its scabbard and across his body in one clean swipe.

Kaoru blinked as Kenshin's war cry echoed on the stone walls and faded away. Kenshin stood as still as the statue, his hair flying out behind him and his sword high in the air. _Huh _Kaoru thought _He must of missed._ But he didn't miss. The stone pedestal the statue was sitting on exploded into hundreds of pieces. The statue hit the ground and shattered. Thousands of glittering gold coins spilled out everywhere. They rolled and spun on the grass and stepping stones. The slaves cheered and rushed to the wealth, gathering up as much as they could. Kenshin slowly sheathed his sword and walked over to the horses and tugged off their empty saddle bags. He tossed them to the waiting hands of the slaves and they eagerly stuffed them with the gold. It was obvious what they thought of their master. They were happy to have a hand in his downfall.

Kenshin took the bags when they were full. Some of the women found more bags and started to fill them as well. "Keep the rest. And run, you own your own life again." Kenshin called out. He left the mass of slaves to gather what they could.

Kaoru seized the opportunity as Kenshin strapped the saddlebags to the horses. "I'm sure one of them can cook better than I. And they are slaves already. They know what to do." She leaned almost half off the horse, willing him to understand.

"I know." Kenshin said in his hard voice as he strapped the second bag to Yahiko's horse.

"Then why don't you take one of them?" Kaoru protested.

Kenshin paused and looked up and Kaoru, his yellow eyes peeking out from under his blood red locks of hair. "Because, I want you, Kaoru." His voice was low, almost purring her name.

Cold fear slammed into Kaoru. Dare she believe him when he said he didn't believe in ravishing women? Kaoru was more afraid that he would not have to. That she would go willingly to him. The geisha sucked in her breath at the thought of letting the demon have his way with her… and actually enjoying it. She was in danger. Oh yes.

But Kaoru squared her shoulders and turned away from his smoldering gaze. _If you think broad shoulders and amazing skills will win over Kamiya Kaoru, you are just going to be disappointed. _

… . .

They stopped sometime later at an arched gateway.

Kaoru gasped as Kenshin dismounted. "No! Stop you savage thieves; this is a temple for orphaned children!"

"Yes, I know." Kenshin growled at her without a glance and hurried up the stone steps.

"He's going to see if they had any trouble. We wouldn't rob from holy men, and especially not from children." Yahiko informed her. "We are not barbarians." Yahiko snorted. "Don't you know anything about anyone besides yourselves?" He added, glancing over his shoulder.

Kaoru had no answer as Kenshin returned.

"They are fine. No one has bothered them at all."

Kaoru looked around, confused. This wasn't anything like a city being ransacked would be like. Yes there was fire and smoke, confusion and fear. She was with men who had just looted a home and now had saddle bags loaded with coin. But she figured there would be blood in the streets, temples and estates burned down. Men with frightening samurai armor and masks dragging women away by their hair to do something unspeakable. What they were doing was like collecting tax. Forcefully. Kaoru guessed she should be thankful. These men were not brining the city to ruin. And it seemed that they took only what they could carry and left the rest

"Lets go to the city's center and see what is going on." Kenshin muttered to Yahiko.

Kaoru felt her spirits lift. Perhaps they will pass solders on their way, or one of her geisha sisters who could run the message back that she was being kidnapped. But they suddenly were going against the tide of people, and they were slowed to a crawl. Many of the men were other samurai. They shouted news to one another. Kaoru could only catch snippets of it. More Samurai on horses rode up and fell into step with them and spoke with Kenshin. Kaoru spotted some soldiers but their lack of weapons and down cast look showed that they had already surrendered and became slaves.

Yahiko started shouting at another group of youths who were teasing him about the lady that rode behind him. Calling out that he was too young for such a pretty thing. Kaoru ignored their calls, turning her head away with a haughty lift of her chin. She would not fall into a shouting match with children.

Kaoru suddenly caught sight of a face in the crowd. Her make-up had been hastily rubbed off to keep from standing out, but Kaoru recognized the pretty young woman, one of her geisha sisters. "Tsubame! Tsubame!" She called out over the din of the crowd. The shy young woman started at being recognized, her eyes scanning the crowd for the source of her name. Tsubame caught sight of Kaoru on the horse, but she started to back away when she noticed all the samurai pressing closer to them to speak with Kenshin. "Tsubame! Tell Mother I've been kidnapped! Tell my Father!" Kaoru cried out as the girl took to her heels and ran before she could be noticed.

"Let me go!" Seeing someone she knew refueled her spirit and willpower. She pulled at the leather belt linking her to Yahiko. She tried to rake his back with her nails when she couldn't get free.

"Hey! Ow! Stop that you raccoon!" Yahiko twisted violently in his saddle, hissing in pain. Kaoru was about to go for his face but he was quick to dodge.

Then suddenly Kenshin pulled his horse up to them and caught Kaoru by her leather bonds and jerked hard, snapping her around to face him. "Stop it." he ordered in a deadly calm voice. Kaoru felt the fight leave her, as did her breath. "If you don't behave, I'll throw you across my lap like a sack of laundry. Would you want to be humiliated in such a way?"

Kaoru shrunk back at his threat and Kenshin let her go. Her hands trembled, shaken by the ordeal. She was pushing the man, and Kenshin was obviously someone she shouldn't test. She was going to have to tuck her stubbornness away if she was going to get out of this without injury. She turned back to the direction her geisha sister ran. Somehow she felt that she would be saved if someone of authority knew of her predicament. But seeing the men slink away in the shadows of their homes or fleeing the city all together; seeing the soldiers out skilled, giving up and throwing down their swords worried Kaoru. Who was gathering the troops to come and save the city and rescue them all?

_No one _Kaoru realized when they finally reached the center, the heart of the city. Mounted samurai watched the citizens as others on foot helped with carts full of rice, bolts of cloth and silk and barrels of sake. They all shouted news to each other. What they needed, where to find it, who was causing trouble. Masses of slaves huddled together waiting to please their new master with whatever whim they had. And there was no resistance.

Kenshin stopped at the steps of a small stone temple that was built into the side of one building. It seemed to be a pre-arranged meeting spot. Instantly a half dozen other samurai rode or walked up and raised their hands in some sort of salute.

Kaoru was so tired and uncomfortable; she no longer felt any fear. Tired, hungry and thirsty, she had little interest in what they spoke of. Not that she could hear their soft words over the noise from the mass of people. She let herself sag against Yahiko's back. The noise washed over her. Kaoru did not notice when she started to wobble on the horse as she fell into a half faint, half sleep. Nor did she notice Yahiko reaching back to steady her.

"Here, drink." Someone shook her shoulder hard enough to snap her from her exhaustion. Despairingly, she lifted her head to see Kenshin holding a small jug out to her. "Drink this, I know you are thirsty."

"Can't" Kaoru muttered simply, "my hands are tied." The thought of cool water running past her chapped lips and dry throat wasn't enough to make her ask him to untie her. She'd rather die of thirst.

Kenshin leaned forward and with a twist of his hand, freed one wrist. He then set the jug in her slightly numbed hand. Kaoru wanted to thank him, but pride prevented her from doing so. Instead she tipped the contents of the jug in her mouth.

It wasn't water. It was poorly made sake that was watered down. But it went down like the purest, coldest water from the winter rain. She handed the jug back to Kenshin with a small bow, just a nod of the head. Kenshin didn't try to retie her wrist as they started back on their way. Kaoru, refreshed from the drink noticed that the hilt of Yahiko's short sword was in reach. If she could snatch it. She could hold it to the boy's throat or ribs until they took her home. She let her hand drift around his side, as if she were trying for a better hold.

"Yahiko, move your sword and dagger." Kenshin said. Without question or hesitation, the boy shifted his sword belt around, moving the weapons out of her reach.

_Blast that man_ Kaoru glared at his back. "Do you have eyes in the back of your head or something?"

Kenshin flashed her a smile over his shoulder. His yellow eyes melting to a warm glow. "Yes. I must if I'm to stay alive. That and having the ability to read the minds of my enemy."

Was Kaoru his enemy now? If he knew half of the things she was thinking about doing to him, he would think twice about having her around him. She never did anything to earn this. She was just a geisha girl. Kaoru looked around at the faces of the slaves as they wandered past her. What had any of them done to deserved this. Though, most were in no better shape. They simply changed masters.

"Come!" Kenshin called to the group. "Let's get out of the city and back to camp. There is nothing else for us to do here today. Besides, a counsel is being called tomorrow. We'll need rest."

Kaoru watched as around fifty men and youths stood or mounted their horses and started to follow them out of the city. Seemed Kenshin's words held weight. This was an order, not an idea or suggestion. Many were larger, older looking men, people who looked like they should be in charge, not Kenshin. "Who is he?" Kaoru asked Yahiko as they made their way to the outskirts of the city.

"He's Battousai. A man slayer." Yahiko said with pride. "He is a great assassin. It is said that while he worked for your lying Takeda he killed over a hundred enemies. No one knows how many he has killed in total. I don't even think Kenshin knows."

An assassin? Kaoru looked at the short, but imposing man. She witnessed herself the smooth, calm way he took the life of the two men that attacked her. It was not hard to see Kenshin as an emotionless killer, doing what he had to.

"And who are you? You can't be his son, you are too old." Kaoru observed.

"A cousin." Yahiko replied before muttering. "A distant cousin."

"If you are family, why do you serve him and care for him like a slave would?"

"It is customary for me to live with him and serve him. In return he teaches me about swordplay and being a man." The youth sounded proud of that fact. "He is teaching me his style of swordsmanship. Soon I will become the fifteenth generation of the Hiten Mitsurugi."

"I understand." Kaoru said with a nod of her head. "But why do all these men follow him? Many of them are older than he is, stronger looking too." Kaoru snapped her mouth shut. Did she just insult Kenshin? Would Yahiko retaliate for her brass words?

No, it seemed the boy understood her question, or just didn't care. "He is high rank amongst our people. He is most fit to lead, and don't let his age or size fool you." Yahiko paused as Kaoru looked around his shoulder at Kenshin. He did seem rather young to be such a skilled assassin. "He is a better swordsman than most the men here. He may someday lead us all." Yahiko added in a softer voice. "We have been wandering around, fighting and protecting this land. We gave our word to do so, but your Takada has no honor, some say Kenshin should have been sent in to kill him much sooner. Now the rat has escaped."

Kaoru kept her eyes on Kenshin. "What makes him worthy of being a leader? Besides his skill and all. I'm sure there is more to it than that." Why did she care? She shouldn't care about barbarian politics, but she was so curious about this red-headed demon.

"Be wise about politics, kill the enemy, smart about strategy. Be the law and judge to his people…provide and protect his people and make sure they have all they need." Yahiko listed off.

"And Kenshin is all this?" Kaoru couldn't see Kenshin caring for other people. He was far too scary; did children even come up to the man?

Yahiko nodded. "All this and more." He said with such fierce loyalty. Passionate in his defense of his Master's honor. "People look up to him. Some say he will be the next leader."

Kaoru blinked in surprise. "Wouldn't the next in line come into power? Kenshin is just an assassin."

"If our leader dies, there may be a fight if he is named the new leader. Sure there are other men of higher rank that may want the position, but it is obvious to everyone that Kenshin is the best choice for the job." It didn't disturb the boy to think of someone so important may die.

'_He must face the thought all the time._' Kaoru thought to herself.

"Look we are almost there." Yahiko said in a lighter tone, his hand raised to point out into the distance.

They had past the city gates without Kaoru noticing. Now off in the distance she saw smoke from camp fires, and lines of tents that jutted up from the ground like the surrounding trees. There were so many tents, many more than their own force had. Kaoru realized that even if her city did put up a fight, they were very, very out numbered. As they grew closer, Kaoru could see that every tent was different. Some were only large enough for one or two people and all their possessions. Some were large enough to house a family and all their things. Many had temporary wooden corrals mounted in the dirt by the tents to keep horses, goats, pigs and other farm animals. It looked nothing like a military emplacement, more like a vast colorful village. Each tent was a mish-mash of colors. Some were patched so much that they looked comical. Some were fancy and bright, while others still were simple and plain.

Women were everywhere, bustling between the tents, bent over fires, chasing misbehaving children. Though the tents were all different, they were arranged in an orderly fashion so that there were "streets" pathways large enough for horses and carts to travel and reach every tent. Banners flapped lazily from some tents, mounted samurai were patrolling the perimeter of the camp, there eyes always on the horizon.

Kaoru could hardly take it all in. The camp seemed to stretch out in all directions. "There are thousands." She muttered. So many people…it boggled her mind. Kaoru started as Kenshin turned to answer her. _'he must have hearing like his wolf.'_

"This is a people. You might say a whole nation searching for a homeland." Kenshin paused, his eyes never leaving her. "And now you are a part of it."

Kaoru glared as he turned away. "Never." She said to his back as he made his way down one of the wide streets between the tents. "Never." She was a geisha, she didn't live in tents next to animals.

"You are pretty stubborn, Raccoon." Yahiko observed. "I always though geisha's did whatever men wanted, were submissive and all that."

"Is that the way the women are here?!" Just because she was raised a geisha, didn't mean she was going to act like one for this man just because he called her his slave.

"Oh, no. not at all." Yahiko laughed. "I guess you might like it here."

'_I hardly think so._' Kaoru thought sadly. She had many things running though her head. How was she to escape? There were so many people everywhere, and the men around the camp would be sure to spot her. She would have to stay with Kenshin and Yahiko for the time being. Yet that raised even more questions. Like how was she going to survive living with two arrogant swordsmen, one who was down right dangerous and scary? Plus there were trivial things to worry about. Kaoru was use to commodities such as a proper bathhouse, latrine with running water near by, civilized food for someone else to cook and not to mention clean clothes. She was pretty sure these were things she wasn't going to find amongst the tents.

Kenshin dismounted in front of a large tent. One that was far too large for just two people. Women from nearby tents looked up and waved at Kenshin as if they were old neighbors. Perhaps they were. Kaoru figured. A young male child with strong legs pounded across the distance between the tents and skidded to a halt beside Kenshin. Kaoru watched surprised as the boy tugged at Kenshin's gi as he was working to until the gold filled saddlebag. Kenshin paused and dipped his head down to talk to the child as he fired off question after question.

Kenshin gave him short answers in a soft voice before finally removing the gold. He then plucked the boy from the ground and placed him on his horse and handed him the reins. The boy laughed in delight atop the horse. Kaoru couldn't help but stare. This was man might be the future leader of this clan? The vicious, coldhearted, bloodthirsty assassin? She tried to imagine Takada stooping to talk to a grubby, curious child and entrusting them with his horse. Impossible.

Kenshin untied the other bag of gold from Yahiko's horse and a bundle of feather and fur that she had not noticed before.

"Dinner." He said simply as he set the bundle in her lap. It was two rabbits and some kind of game bird. Kaoru quickly grabbed the bundle with her free hand before any blood would ruin her priceless kimono. Even as she held the bundle away from her with disgust, the wolf trotted up from between the tents and dropped another rabbit at the horse's feet and sat back looking up at her.

"I guess I'm suppose to be thankful?" Kaoru snapped at the animal as it lolled its tongue out. Kaoru swore it looked like it was grinning up at her.

"We'll eat well tonight." Kenshin said. "His name is Saitou." The large animal lifted his head at the sound of his name. Kenshin petted the animal affectionately.

"Well is Saitou going to skin these, or pluck them or whatever you do with whatever these are?" Kaoru wasn't stupid; she knew perfectly well what needed to be done with them...in theory. But let him think she was completely sheltered and pampered, it would put him off his guard, make him second guess his choice in slaves.

Kaoru half expected him to show his tempter at her snappy attitude, but all Kenshin said was, "Yahiko will do it tonight, and tomorrow I will find someone to show you how to cook."

Kaoru glared down her nose at him. It was suicide to push him, but she wanted to see him crack. "We'll see about that. And now I want to wash up."

"We all do." Kenshin agreed; his eyes still hard and calm.

'_Damn it! Did nothing provoke this man?!' _

"If you go and ask Megumi there..." He nodded his head in the direction of a nearby tent where a woman was feeding wood under a large pot. "…She will give you hot water for washing." He gave his horse a soft slap to the rump. The animal moved off to it's corral, it's small rider laughing in delight as they were followed by Yahiko. Kaoru looked back in time to see Kenshin vanish under the flap of the tent.

Kaoru blinked, realizing no one was watching her. What would happen if she decided to turn on her heal and march away into the maze of tents? She slipped off her horse, the landing jarred her enough to drop the bundle of dead game. Saitou got to his feet and shook himself vigorously as he stood there and waited for her. Of course, her wolf bodyguard would drag her back to his equally wolfish master if she were to wander too far.

Kaoru winced as she picked the game from the ground and placed it by a stone fire pit in front of the tent. She then turned and headed to the tent were this Megumi woman was waiting for her. Apparently she had heard Kenshin say her name. The woman was much talker than Kaoru, with long ebony hair and bright eyes. Where Kaoru was a bit thin and lacked womanly curves, Megumi was full figured enough for Kaoru to envy the woman on sight. She was clothed in a very plain and simple gi that was meticulously clean. It was also quite obvious that the woman was pregnant. Kaoru suddenly felt shy as she stepped up the woman as she waited for her, smiling.

"Hello, are you Megumi?" Kaoru asked in a soft voice, noticing her eyes wanting to glue themselves to the dirt.

Megumi only smiled as she rubbed the small of her back. "I am. I see you belong to Kenshin now? His new woman?"

Kaoru's eyes snap up from the ground. "No! He wants me to be his slave." They stood there looking at each other for a moment.

_His slave? _Megumi had never known Kenshin to take in a slave; and this girl sure didn't look like a slave. She raised a delicate eyebrow in thought. The man must have been mistaken with he picked this one up.

"He sent me here for hot water for washing, and I need to use the latrine." Kaoru felt so embarrassed she couldn't help but keep her eyes on her feet once again.

Megumi smiled. The poor girl was no slave; Kenshin must have picked up some well to do citizen that caught his fancy. The woman pointed to a square of wattle made from branches and sticks tied together, that sat in a cleared open area.

Kaoru thanked Megumi and stepped lightly over to the small square of fence. Saitou trailed at her heels. She approached it cautiously, preparing herself to be horrified. The wattle, just a little over the height of her head had an opening with a baffle screen set inside it, a deep hole with a plank, a bucket of ash with a scoop and a box with large leaves. Without running water it seemed rather civilized. It was no bath house by far, but not as bad as Kaoru imagined it could have been. Yet there was no way for her to show that the wattle was occupied. The last thing she wanted was some strange barbarian samurai to walk in on her with her kimono hiked up to her hips and doing her business. With no other option, Kaoru had to hum. Rather loudly.

When she emerged, she found Megumi scooping hot water into a pair of buckets. she hooked the buckets to a chain and hooked the chains to a wooden yoke. Kaoru paused, balking at the idea of hauling water by a yoke like a donkey. Megumi looked up and smiled, not noticing the startled look on Kaoru's face.

"Is this enough water? Should I get some bigger buckets?"

Kaoru felt a little panic. Bigger buckets meant more weight. "No! No, no that's plenty." Kaoru thanked Megumi as she awkwardly positioned the yoke across her shoulders and stood to take the weight. It wasn't very heavy, it just took a lot of concentration to keep the buckets from rocking back and forth and spilling the water. The symbolism didn't get past Kaoru… was she Kenshin's beast of burden now? She was doing what he told her to do. Was there any way to retreat from it?

Kaoru turned quickly, the buckets swung a little and Kaoru had to catch her balance with Megumi's help. "I'm Kaoru." She blurted out to the taller woman. "Kamiya Kaoru." Megumi nodded and smiled.

"If you need anything, feel free to come talk." Megumi smiled and turned back to her large pot on the fire.

Kaoru stood there a moment. Now there was a woman who knew how to do things. If she was lost out in the wild, she would survive. Kaoru wasn't all too sure she could even make a fire. Much less cook anything or make some kind of shelter or even know how to find water. She felt useless. Kaoru sighed before slowly turning around and making her way back to Kenshin's tent. She stooped through the flap and set down the buckets without spilling a drop. Kaoru smiled at the accomplishment. She wasn't completely useless. At least she could haul water.

… . .

Megumi looked over her shoulder at the small slave girl hauling water. She was almost positive now that this Kaoru was no slave, or even some kind of worker. Megumi wouldn't be surprised if Kaoru hadn't worked a day in her life. Her skin was pale, her face was made up like a mask. A foolish thing for a slave. Oh yes, the Battousai picked up himself some pretty little thing for his own pleasure… Megumi was almost sure of it. She felt bad for Kaoru. She had no idea the kind of person Kenshin was. He could be a sweet, kind man… but also be a demon.

The lady doctor tended to her fire as she thought. She hoped that the girl would have enough sense to do as she was told.

.

… . .

"Over here" Kenshin said, his voice muffled in she shadows near the back of the tent. Kaoru could see that he had removed his sword belt and was now pushing the chest armor over his head.

Kaoru was quite sure he expected her to run over and help him. For she was sure it was nearly impossible to put samurai armor on by oneself, if must be equally difficult to take it off. _Let him untangle himself_. Kaoru snickered to herself as she removed the yoke from her shoulders and carried the buckets over to him. Kenshin heaved at the armor and it slipped off his head to pool on the ground in a pile of wood and leather. It had dragged his gi off as well and he stood there bare chested.

The smile Kaoru wore faded instantly. She had never seen a man half naked this close before. Her previous thoughts of him were confirmed. He was lean, almost too thin for a man of such strength. Yet his muscles were well defined and slightly tanned from the sun. The muscles of his stomach, chest and back rippled with his slightest move. He was defined, powerful. His tanned skin was marred with scars. Some hardly a scratch, others a criss-cross web of injuries. Kaoru had the sudden impulse to reach out and feel him. Feel the heat and texture of his skin, to trace the more horrific looking scars. She wanted to feel the beating pulse of the man under such a body. To know that he was truly a man, and find out why she feared him so much.

Kaoru realized she was staring, and he was watching her! She also realized she had her mouth open; she closed it with a snap. If Kenshin had any idea what his half naked body was doing to her, he didn't show it. In fact he seemed quite oblivious to how he affected her.

"You should smile sometimes." Kenshin stated, noting the fearful child look Kaoru wore as she tried to act like nothing was amiss. Yet it just came off as if she had something sitting in her mouth that tasted terrible.

Kaoru wanted to slap that arrogant face right off of him. "I'll smile when I'm rescued." She snapped back. Pleased when he lifted one eyebrow in surprise. But the smile slowly faded when he turned at her fully. He raised his hand and Kaoru wanted to flinch away, knowing she was about to be slapped for her insolence. But she held her ground and refused to show fear.

Kenshin wanted shake the brat. He wasn't going to harm her, so why did she have to look at him like he was about to wring her pretty little neck. Because he would have had she been some normal slave. But Kaoru was no slave, and she wasn't normal. He raised his hand and cupped her chin in a tight grip and forced her to tip her head up at him. "Smile right now Kaoru. Smile for me."

* * *

A/n wow this chapter turned out longer than most. Ideas are still needed and reviews are always loved!


	3. Wash up and eat

a/n I'm happy to see so many reviews for this story. I didn't think it was going to be anything special. But I'm glad everyone likes it. I know Kaoru isn't the kind to be a geisha, But I figured even Kaoru would bend if she had to grow up in a geisha house. But she would never lose that spirit of hers.

I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I haven't been working on this story as much. I'm actually working on five other stories right now, so writer's block for all of them is very rare. But I will continue to work on this story regardless. I never leave a story unfinished.

I give this chapter a PG Rating.

* * *

Chapter 3

Kaoru bared her teeth at Kenshin. _Will she bite?_ "Smile for me." He said again, curious to see what she would do. It was like having an exotic animal in his hands, half tame, half wild. He was a fool to take her from the city and bring her here, he knew that. She was completely different from what he needed. She would not fit as a wife he should take or as a dominate slave needed to make life comfortable. He wondered what gave him the moment of insanity. This lack in judgment.

But Kenshin knew better than to think it was an impulse that he picked her. He knew why he took her from the streets, he wanted her. He could have let her go at any time back in the city; she was harmless, knowing nothing about him or his people. But something about the dark-haired, blue-eyed, pale-skinned creature called out to him, somewhere deep where even his logical assassin mind could not grasp. It would be hell to teach her their ways and to learn to be a slave, with her well-to-do arrogance and stubborn defiance. He was pretty sure she had brought the water only because she wanted to use it herself. Kenshin fought a sneer as he watched his fingers slowly smudge the thick white makeup on her chin. Pretty little cadged bird…he had little patience for them, but for this one…for her he would have to find some.

Kaoru forced a smile, "I would rather smile at your wolf." Kaoru jerked her chin but Kenshin refused to let her go and she was too proud to keep struggling. There was fear in the back of those blue eyes. Kenshin saw fear in all his victims. But this was not the fear of approaching death. She was afraid that he would force her to do more than carry water, despite his pledge, and that angered the Battousai.

Had her people no idea of honor? Did they have no respect for a man's word? Kenshin and all his people had experienced it, year after weary year. They had fought for the mayor, learned his ways, kept his enemies at bay, killing man after man, waiting for their reward while they were lied to and deceived. And now, what would they do? They had taken the city, they held the sister of the mayor, they could strip the city of gold and slaves and treasures. But were they any closer to what they needed, their safe homeland?

Loyalty to his leader told him to trust his judgment. Experience and his own imagination told him to doubt the outcome. And yet there was no doubt in his mind that their leader was an honorable man. Frustrated, Kenshin released her. "That is your space, take some water," He jerked his chin toward the length of striped cloth that shielded one corner of the tent. "and wash." He growled.

Kaoru stepped away from him, and he watched as she wiped her hand across her chin where he had held her, as though his touch was contaminating. She didn't care if she smeared her already ruined and useless makeup. "This is a large tent," she observed as if nothing has passed between them, hefting one of the buckets and making her way over to the corner. She was stronger than she looked.

"Far bigger than standard eight-man tents. They have to be, for we've spent years in them, now they are as close to a home as we can make." Kenshin watched her poking about in her space, amused by the feminine instinct to build a nest for herself in the most unpromising circumstances. "Don't worry. I'll give you rugs for a bed and Yahiko will fashion a bamboo mat for you to sleep on."

"Luxury indeed." She said dryly, letting the curtain fall between them. She was use to sleeping on feather stuffed futon mats that were fluffed by the servants before she went to sleep. And now she would sleep on a flat wooden mat with rugs.

Kenshin whistled to Saitou and waited for the wolf to trot over to the corner. The animal padded behind the curtain and must have sat down, for Kenshin could see its tail sticking out from under the curtain. Kaoru muttered something to him and his tail began to wag. Saitou liked her, it seemed.

Yahiko on the other hand, did not. "Where is she?" he demanded, marching in the tent.

"Washing." Kenshin nodded his head towards the curtain. "Here, take some of this and make yourself descent. You stink of horse sweat and smoke."

"So do you." Yahiko said back as he began to ladle the hot water into a bowl

"I'm washing, aren't I?" Kenshin aimed to cuff the boy across the head, watching closely as Yahiko ducked smoothly away. He was growing up fast, too fast for his lanky frame to catch up with. He had a quick tongue, fierce loyalty and worked magic with the horses. He was also beginning to flirt with the girls his own age. Kenshin wondered where the time had gone. Seemed only a while ago a scrawny ten year old was placed in his care.

Kenshin cast a thoughtful eye in the direction of Kaoru's corner. There was splashing, but no other sound. Was he asking for trouble, introducing an attractive young woman into the tent with the youth? Most likely not, not while they fought like brother and sister, but it would be a good idea to keep watch. Yahiko deserved better to fall into a young puppy love with a gilded cage bird.

Kenshin fished a soap ball out of an earthenware jar and tossed it to the boy. He then grabbed another ball of soap and went across the tent to hold it round the edge of the curtain. "Here." He grunted, half expecting her to slap it out of his hand. There was a pause then wet fingers brushed against his hand as she gently took it.

"Thank you." She whispered from behind the curtain.

Kenshin jerked his hand back as if he'd just been bitten by a snake. His body went ridged with desire. Kenshin gave his head a shake to clear his mind. Why did that fleeting touch affect him in such a way? He had no idea. One moment he was worried about politics, Yahiko's adolescent fancies, and the next he found himself as aroused as though Kaoru had stepped from behind the curtain naked and wrapped her arms around him.

The touch of those damp fingers fired his imagination with visions of her wet and bare behind the flimsy curtain. Cursing himself, he strode to the shadowed back recesses of the tent to give himself a chance to recover before allowing himself to be seen. Had it been so long since he had a woman that such a touch would affect him so? He didn't take Kaoru for this reason, to torment him. Kenshin wasn't sure why he had taken her now. He looked for a towel in his corner, finding none; he cursed and turned to the boy. "Where are the towels, are they all still soiled?"

"No, Megumi washed them along with the other clothes, they are hanging to dry." Yahiko replied.

"Megumi has been your maid up until now, I presume." Said the cool voice from behind the curtain. It acted like a soggy blanket tossed on the fire that raged inside of him, smothering his fantasies. He grimaced and went back to the hot water to continue washing.

"Megumi is my older sister so she looks after us when there isn't anyone else." Yahiko snapped back at the curtain. "She's expecting a baby so she shouldn't be looking after two households now."

"Then you had better kidnap a slave for her too, or give her some help yourself." Kaoru snapped back

Damn, did that woman have a mouth. Her tongue was like a snake bite. Kenshin figured he'd better intervene before the boy started trouble. "An excellent idea, although, once you learn the way of things, you can help her out. She'll be happy to have another woman to talk too and she'll be busy with the new baby.

There was a moment of silence. "What do you expect me to do?"

"Cook for the three of us. Keep the tent neat and tidy. Mend and wash our clothes. Have fresh water ready and have it heated for when we return so we can wash."

"And nurse you when you are sick, I'm sure." Kaoru added

"Of course, or wounded." In the silence he was sure she was wishing they would get wounded right away.

"Are you decent?" the woman suddenly asked.

Kenshin quickly glanced down at himself to make sure the heat that raged inside of him was not apparent through his hakama pants. Their verbal banter was enough to cool the ridiculous lust yet he was still left shaken by the power of it. Was it time he started thinking about a wife? There were many that would agree it was time for him to settle down and have a family. But with his work as an assassin, he felt it unfair to start a family with such a dangerous job that sometimes had him gone for weeks, even months at a time.

Was it time he started thinking about finding a good match. A well placed marriage would bring more swords to their side and give him powerful sons. Love had no place in such a marriage. Kenshin couldn't afford to be in love, such a distraction would be deadly on the battlefield. He realized he must have been lost in thought because Yahiko answered for them.

"We have our pants on if that's what you mean."

Kenshin's lips twitched into a smile. "Then go put on a shirt," he ordered "and go outside and see about our dinner."

"I skinned and plucked the game." Yahiko said, his voice muffled as he pulled a fresh shirt over his head. "Megumi put them in a hot pot of vegetables. There will be enough for all of us and her brood. She said Sanosuke is going to be late, something about the horses."

Kenshin snorted. Yahiko's brother-in-law had been sent out by their leader to count all the available animals and record their condition. They were going to be on the move soon, and it was no secret. Staying outside a starving city, one they had just stripped of its wealth was foolish. But where would they go? North or South? The wrong direction could lead them to their death. It was what haunted their dreams at night.

"Then stuff straw in a sack for Kaoru's bed."

"She's suppose to be our slave." The boy protested. When Kenshin raised an eyebrow at his back-talk, Yahiko swallowed the rest of his words. "Yes Kenshin-sama, I'm sorry."

Kenshin watched as the boy left, waiting until the tent flap fell back into place before glancing over at Kaoru as she emerged from her corner. Kenshin gave a slight double take; gone was the painted beauty and in her place was a rather simple looking girl, no less beautiful…but more real. He gave a slight smile. "Difficult age." Perhaps she had some experience with brothers or other male relatives. Something to form a link and connect to Yahiko and not see him as an enemy. Having them constantly fighting would not make for happy living.

"I wouldn't know." She said stiffly, Her attention fixed on trying to tie her hair back. "I haven't lived with my brothers long enough."

So much for that idea. Kenshin thought. "I'm sure you have gone through the stage of wanting to rebel, to your own way." Why was he even trying to explain it to this girl? And why was he so fascinated with her hair? Kenshin watched as she combed her fingers through the damp hair. He liked it better this way… a simple ponytail rather than the elaborate style she had before. Kenshin was surprised to see just how young Kaoru was. The make-up, stiff kimono and the extensive hair made her seem almost his own age.. now it was obvious she was far younger than he thought. Quickly he returned to the subject. "It's good that Yahiko balks at authority, tries the limits of my patience. If he don't try and get his own way, he will never learn the discipline of subduing his will to orders. And one day I will let him on his own. By then he will have learned self-discipline on his own."

"I would never dream of disobeying my parents" Or her geisha mother for that matter. She remembered the first and only beating she had received at the geisha house when she was a child. Beaten with a cane stick until her back was bloody. Never again did Kaoru disobey. "As a geisha, we are not allowed to have our head. We must bow to the disciplines of the geisha house and our teaching. That is all that matters in our lives." But oh how she wanted to push the limits.

… . .

Kaoru peered out though the doorway of the tent. She could see the bustle of camp life as the sun started to set. Men were beginning to come back to their home fires, children running out to met them, women standing from their cooking pots to wave or exchange a kiss with the large, long haired and armored men. They looked so fierce, so savage and yet very domestic. They seemed to have genuine affection for their families. Kaoru could not remember ever seeing her mother kiss her father, or her father scooping up one of his children. It seemed her life would have been as cold and impersonal as it had been at the geisha house. Kaoru shivered.

"Are you cold?" Kenshin came up close behind her. He moved with a stealthy silence, as an assassin should, but Kaoru was still startled enough to almost bolt from the tent.

"No." Kaoru shot over her shoulder. She must not give in, must not show him how much his gratitude was needed, even if they were just small gestures of thoughtfulness. She couldn't forget her reality, that she was a captive. His slave. Forgetting this would be a deadly weakness. He was like that wolf of his. Calm, and domesticated until roused, then he was a killer.

"Are you sure? I can get you a cloak, Megumi would lend one for you."

"No." Kaoru fought back more shivers. It was not cold, the air was still warm from the long hot day, yet her whole body felt chilled to the bone. She knew if she let herself relax, she would begin to shake. Shock, most likely, surprised to find herself unable to come up with a better excuse.

"Then what is it?" he asked gently, true concern in his voice. Kaoru tried desperately not to look at him. She didn't want to see his strange eyes shadowed with worry over her. She was stronger than he believed, but not strong enough to resist such eyes. "What do you need, Kaoru?"

"What do you think I need?!" Kaoru spun around, coming toe to toe with him, so close she had to tip her head a little to look at his face. "What do you think I want, what I need?" Anger made her shake all the more; she clenched her hands into fists. _He had hoped to soft-talk me,_ she thought. _He does not like having it thrown back in his face._

There was a dangerous flare of anger in his eyes. They swirled golden amber as he answered her. "To be free." He said in a deep, raspy tone. "But you cannot be free now Kaoru-you are mine." He stood so close to her, heat rolled off his body, engulfing Kaoru.

Kaoru balked at the utter possessiveness in his voice. She didn't want to belong to anyone, like some thing, but to hear him declare her his…well it made Kaoru confused. She felt utterly repulsed and charmed at the same time. She took two angry steps away from him and ducked out of the tent. She folded her arms to stop her body from shaking. Kenshin was use to getting his way and getting what he wanted. But he would never have her. Kaoru swore this.

Now that she was outside, Kaoru could see some children playing from some of the nearby tents. Others were helping their mothers set up small tables, some carried out stacks of plates, wooden cups and chopsticks.

"We will eat outside." Kenshin said as he emerged from the tent.

Kaoru began to turn to announce loftily that she didn't care where they ate; she was not hungry when she saw that Kenshin was speaking to Yahiko, not to her. Yahiko was putting the finishing touches on what Kaoru realized, must be her bed.

Yahiko looked up with a surprised expression. "People will stare." He protested.

"Let them." Kenshin said in a tone that said he could care less "Here, help me with the table. It is too warm to eat inside." He nodded head toward Kaoru. "They will get use to the sight of her soon enough, sooner if Megumi can spare any clothes."

Kaoru felt her stomach clench. Change her clothes for those simple clothes of these barbarians? It would be like losing too much of her identity. Even now, looking around, she regretted her plain hair and blank face. If not for the elaborate kimono, she would pass as any other woman in this camp. _I am not like them; I am a geisha, and an honorable citizen_. She told herself fiercely. To cease to look like a Geisha was another step down the slippery slope of accepting what Kenshin was trying to make her.

If she looked like all the other womenfolk, would Kenshin still look at her with that hot gaze she saw every now and again simmering behind hot red amber eyes? She must seem exotic to him, perhaps that was an attraction and homespuns would be a protection. But the heat of that look was treacherously seductive even while is scared her.

"Come Kaoru, I will show you where the things for eating are." It was Yahiko, very obviously trying to make an effort to be civil. Kaoru almost told him that she had no intentions of eating, let alone set the table. But then she sighed and turned meekly to follow the boy into the tent. The sooner she knew what was in the tent and where it was, the soon she knew what they had that she could use for an escape. A knife for a start, to cut the heavy canvas of the tent side.

"Here." The boy was lifting platters and bowls down off a makeshift shelf. "The chopsticks, spoons and cups are there, see?" he pointed to the shelf below it.

"I need a knife for eating." She said as she took the plates and balanced everything on top of them.

"Really?" Yahiko said with a tip of his head and a bemused look on his face. Then he muttered something about spoiled geishas and handed her an eating knife from the items.

So easy. Kaoru took the knife with an absent air and added it to the pile of things to carry. Too much to hope for eating cushions, fine linen napery, of course.

But as she began to set the table, Kaoru couldn't help but notice the porcine that the plates were made of. They were panted with a delicate pattern of vines and cherry blossoms. Even the wooden cups were expertly carved with their thin walls and engraved design. Kaoru was impressed, these people may be a little crude but their skills were equal for what they had.

"Wondering there the glass sake cups and the lacquered, silver capped chopsticks are, Kaoru?" Kenshin was watching her. Kenshin always seemed to be watching her.

"This is well enough, I suppose." Kaoru forced herself to sound indifferent.

"The glass cups are in the third chest to the left of the door. I had thought spoons would be appropriate for Megumi's rich game stew, I'm afraid the silver capped chopsticks are packed away a bit more inaccessibly. But if you give me more notice that you wish to use them, I'm sure Yahiko can find something."

_Rich game stew?_ Her stomach roiled, distracting her from his sarcasm-although to be fair; it would probably have revolted just the same at the thought of dry bread and water. "I would not disturb him to find such a thing for a mere slave," she said tartly and was finding it hard not to throw one of the wooden cups at him when Kenshin merely grinned.

"You are determined not to show any weakness, aren't you Kamiya Kaoru?" Her formal name for the first time. "I am well aware that you don't want to eat, let alone having to sit down out here, in full view of a good score of interested watchers, and eat game stew. But that is exactly what you are going to do. Eat and keep your strength."

Kaoru narrowed her eyes at him. How dare he talk to her like that! What did he know of fear, this strong, invincible man? Has he ever felt his stomach turn into a rolling mass of butterflies? Ever felt small and powerless and desperate? No of course not. Sitting down and eating wasn't as simple as he thought.

Kaoru squared her shoulder. She would be like a tiny shrew confronted by a dog a thousand times her size. She would not drop from terror…no she would jump and burry her sharp needle teeth in the dog's nose. _I will win._

Yahiko was coming back with a steaming pot, his sister at his heel with her own platter and spoon in her hands. Four children around her skirts. "Greetings" She said to Kaoru, nudging the children to speak.

"Greetings" Kaoru responded, unwilling to snub this woman because of the sins of her menfolk.

They sat down at last, platters of bread, butter and rice on the table along with the stew, and a jug of saki. It seemed a very strange way of eating, no formal serving, just an on your own feeling. Kaoru did her best; _Keep up your strength_, an inner voice nagged her.

The stew was delicious; savory, hot and rich. She ate with an appetite she had never felt before. The cold at her core melted away, the spasms of shivers ebbed. Then she looked up to find Kenshin's eyes on her. All had been right with the world until she remembered him…her captor. Was this how it was going to be day in and day out? Sitting here like a large family, eating around a small wooden table outside on the ground?

Kaoru dropped her chopsticks, forgot the knife she had so carefully secured, and ran for the latrine. She ignored the startled looks from the table and the tables of their neighbors as she bolted. Every morsel she had eaten and drunk rose up to choke her. Kaoru had just enough time to run to the privacy of the latrine. She was bent double, retching miserably, when an arm came round her shoulders to support her and a damp cloth was pressed into her hand. "Thank you, Megumi." She muttered, thankful for the support. At last the misery ended and she sagged back against the figure behind her, head spinning. A small cup appeared and she rinsed her mouth with relief. "Thank you." She said again with more strength.

"I am sorry." Said her helper. Kaoru froze against the supporting arm. It wasn't Megumi…it was Kenshin. "I should have let you eat inside." He said in a cool, but not hard tone.

"Let me go!" Kaoru struggled to free herself, scarlet with humiliation from the position she was in; suddenly conscious of where she was.

"Of course, you should rest."

For one horrible moment Kaoru thought he was going to pick her up and carry her out. The thought of being carried out of a latrine in front of an interested audience of samurai families was too much. She didn't dare look at Kenshin.

"Don't you dare pick me up." Kaoru hissed as she felt his hands wrap around her. Kenshin pulled away and lifted his hands away, letting her get to her feet on her own. "Stay there." She added, pushing back the mass of her hair and summoning all her dignity. Then, with a sigh, stalked out of the enclosure, across the intervening space and into the tent without a glance in any direction.

Once inside away from the eyes, all her strength and determination left her and she had to cling to the pole that held up the front of the tent.

"Bed" said Kenshin behind her, and this time, as her knees gave way, she let him scoop her up and carry her to the curtain hung across the corner. "There.' Kenshin laid her down on the bed and she felt her weight bear her down into the well stuffed mattress Yahiko had so reluctantly prepared.

"There's water." He gestured at a jug. "And here is Saitou to keep watch over you. Rest, or you won't be of any use to me sick. Goodnight."

He didn't look back as the striped fabric fell to shield her little corner. Kaoru had to strain to hear his footfalls, but only Saitou gave her the clue that he was gone. The wolf lowered his head and circled the tiny corner once before settling down at the foot of her bed. Kaoru could only just see the dark animal in the light of the small paper lantern that burned on the small chest set beside her bed.

Kaoru lay rubbing her sore stomach and trying to regain some balance. The knife was still on the table outside, of course, and the wolf lay in her way to the door. No escape tonight then.

'_Damn it!'_

Kaoru sat up and untied the obi and removed the heavy, stiff layers of the kimono. She was left with her white cloth chest bindings and a silk white slip that just reached her knees. She carefully folded the fine kimono and obi and opened a second chest. Inside were more fine linens and towels. _Stolen, I'm sure._ She told herself, just like the gold. She set her clothes on top, then draped her used towel over the closed chest. She kicked off her sandals and washed her feet in the cool water that remained in the bowl, and then set to work spreading the rugs on the bed.

It was work she was not familiar with. Every morning she rose leaving her bed rumpled for her body servant to take care of. The clothes she had discarded the night before would have been removed, of course, and a fresh selection set out for her. On her dressing table would be her combs and mirror, her cosmetics and oils, her boxes of jewelry. All she had to do every morning was choose what she would wear that day. At night her servant would unpin her hair and comb it out. Unless it had been styled with wax. She would have cream on her face to wipe away all traces of her face paint. Fresh night clothes would be ready for her too.

It would be perfect, cool, and tasteful. Outside it would be dead silent as their slaves padded softly around the house. The place would be tranquil and as lonely as the grave.

Kaoru arranged the bed until she had a pillow to lean up against and then climbed under a light rug. Saitou raised his head and came to stand by the bed, his tail waving slowly back and fourth, tongue lolling. Smiling, Kaoru leaned across and scratched him behind the ears. The wolf closed his eyes, then licked her wrist before padding back to his sleeping spot.

Outside, she could hear the murmur of conversation, she could make out Kenshin's voice among a number of other men. His voice seemed to have a hypnotic lull about it. Further away a baby cried and was hushed. A dog barked as someone rode by on a horse. The horses steps were slow and tired sounding.

Her eyes heavy, Kaoru looked around the space that was now hers. The hangings glowed in the lamplight, the few items had a comforting ordinariness that soothed her and she began to drift off to sleep. Hazily there was the realization that she was not feeling lonely, she was feeling warm and safe and at home.

Her eyes flew open. It was terrifying-her own mind was betraying her into weakness. Kaoru bit her lip as she felt tears well up in her eyes. She willed herself not to cry. To be strong and not give in.

* * *

A/n Looks like Kaoru is slowly slipping. But I think the further so sinks the more stubborn she will be. Perhaps she should smarten up and bide her time, eh? Reviews are loved and thank you for reading.


	4. A Lost Chance

A/n I haven't had much need to write in this story. But now that my laptop is confermed dead, my muse has left me, and I return to this story for comfort and to not lose my writing habit. I'm actually very happy and excited to see how many of you enjoy this story. I'm glad to give you another chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4

Kenshin woke with a sudden start that had him reaching for his sword that lay by his side.

There was nothing but silence except for the soft cry of night birds and nocturnal insects. Something woke him, but what? He flexed his fingers around the leather bindings around the hilt of his sword and threw back the light cover. His eyes scanned the darkness, his ears straining to hear any sound that was out of place.

The guards were quiet, the dogs were silent. From the far corner of the tent he could hear Yahiko snoring softly. Then he heard the sound that woke him. A sob.

Hell, she's crying He dropped his sword and fell back on his bed and lay wondering what he should do. He was not use to women, not women who lived under his own roof. No sisters, no wife, only intervals of physical release with the willing ones. Ones who didn't mind the lack of love behind their uncomplicated transactions.

Uncomplicated was not what he had here. What did one do with a weeping woman? In his only experience you handed them over to another woman. Somehow he didn't think Megumi or Sano would thank him for waking them up at this hour to comfort a slave.

He turned over, trying to harden his heart like he would punishing a child for their own good. She sobbed again. Damn it! If she was howling and shrieking he would give her something to cry about or stuff his fingers in his ears and let her exhaust herself with her hysterics. But there was something about the suppressed gasps of grief that went right to his heart.

With a groan he rolled out of bed and stood. He took a step, thought better of it and dragged on his hakama pants. No point in giving her real hysterics by looming up stark naked in her bed space. As he crossed the tent, instinct steering him around obstacles in the dark, a wet nose butted him on the back of the hand. It was Saitou. The wolf took his fingers between his teeth and tugged gently.

"Yes, I know, I heard her. Let go." Kenshin whispered, running his free hand over the beast's head. He snatched up a paper lantern and ducked out of the tent long enough to take an ember from the camp fire to light the lantern. Saitou lead the way in the dancing light of the lantern. The beast pushed past the curtain and Kenshin silently followed, watching as the wolf sat by her bed. He had his head tipped to the side as if puzzled by the whole thing. Kenshin lifted the lantern so that the soft lantern light flooded the small corner. The soft rugs were tossed and wadded up at the foot of the bed, showing that the girl was restless. She had one arm thrown across her forehead and was completely still except for a soft desperate sob. Saitou whimpered and Kenshin took a step closer.

She was beautiful, Kenshin suddenly realized now that the girl was completely lax in her bed. Her limbs were long and slender; her face had an innocent kind of beauty. Kaoru was not frightened or angry, and Kenshin could see a glimpse of the woman that hid under the scowl and make-up. "She's dreaming." He whispered to the dog. He clenched his hand into a fist. He wanted to touch her, to see the contrast of his skin against her's like when she had grabbed his arm back in the alley, when he decided to keep her.

The smart thing to do would be to let her work through her nightmare. She would wake with perhaps some of those fears gone. To wake her would frighten her and most likely anger her. He didn't want to have to deal with that at this time of night. Kenshin hunkered down by Kaoru's bed, wondering just what she would do if she woke to find him there. Would she scream in fright, spit obscenities at him? Or would she welcome him? Kenshin snorted at his ridiculous fantasies, shoving such thoughts away as he moved to sit against the tent wall.

Unable to fight the impulse any more, Kenshin reached down and brushed a few stray strands of hair from her wet face. Her skin was cool to the touch and petal soft. Kenshin sighed and he let his fingers trail down her cheek to the slender column of her neck. He could feel her pulse fluttering under her skin. "Shh, Kaoru. It's alright, you are safe." He whispered, His soft words surprised him. It just bothered him that he had caused her so much distress. Had she been anyone else, he would of abandoned her to work through her night terror. But seeing her like this and hearing her soft sobs tugged at his heartstrings.

There was a weight on his legs and it brought his attention back to Saitou. The large animal lay at his side, head resting across his knee. "You better get off me you baka." Kenshin whispered, but the Manslayer couldn't find it in him to push the beast away. Seeing that he was going to be left alone, Saitou let his eyes droop.

This was insane. He had a meeting tomorrow to discuss their next move and strategy. How much longer were they going to stay here? Where would they go once they decided to leave? Would they have to fight their way through? Even if everything did go well they would have to strike camp and be on the move. Kenshin very well might ride off into battle tomorrow and here he was losing sleep comforting a slave with a wolf drooling on his knee.

But it felt good; comforting Kaoru. Touching her seemed to calm the rolling turmoil that always boiled within him. Stresses he didn't even know he was suffering from. His lithe body began to relax. He could feel his shoulders drooping and he could feel his breathing slowing to the rhythm to match that of Kaoru's. He made himself fall into a swordfighter's semi-focused trance. Everything shrunk down to become simple, centered on the warm, fragile body sleeping inches from his.

Kaoru's sobs slowed and she sighed as she twisted in her sleep. "Kenshin."

Kenshin froze did she know he was there? Her eyes were still closed and her body was still. She was dreaming. The idea that this girl was dreaming of him suddenly bought the intimacy of this situation up to the surface. It suddenly seemed over sensuous to be in the darkness of her private area and he felt the sudden heat and tightness of his body again. He had to leave and quickly.

Saitou grumbled as his head was shoved away unceremoniously as Kenshin climbed to his feet. He paused only long enough to pull up the rugs over her skirts, skirts that were rucked up over her knees from her twisting. He backed away, as if she was a dangerous animal and quickly picked up the lantern. It seemed silly to act as if the young woman was some deadly foe, but Kenshin wasn't going to push his luck. "Stay" He breathed to Saitou and the wolf lay down at the foot of the bed. He heard Kaoru mumble his name as he stepped out from behind the curtain.

Kenshin returned to his bed, shaken. Kaoru was dangerous to his peace of mind, to his body's equilibrium, to his focus and control. Restless, he turned on his side and tried to get comfortable, accepting the ache in his body as just punishment for his actions. Dangerous. Some part of his mind, the part that observed him, chided him-his conscience, he supposed-noted coolly that he did not consider taking her back with him to the city in the morning and setting her free. No, he told himself as he slipped back into sleep. She stays.

… . .

Kaoru woke to a strange light, and unfamiliar room, and peculiar bed. Where…? She sat up, scrubbing the loose tendrils of hair back from her face, and found herself staring at a large wolf that was watching her from the far end of the bed.

Oh no! It wasn't a dream. She was still in the samurai's tent, yesterday had happened, she was a captive, a slave and she had no idea how she was going to escape. Her side of the tent must be facing east, she realized, as the strong glow of the sunrise flooded the heavy tent canvas and lit up her bed space.

And then the dream came back to her. Kaoru fell back onto the straw-filled mattress with a groan of horror and forced herself to remember the lurid night-time fantasy. Kenshin had captured her, held her against her will and her treacherous imagination had brought him to her bed half naked. She had dreamt he had held her in his arms, caressed her face and neck, and she felt the heat of his naked body…

"No!" Kaoru rolled over on her side, dragging the covers over her head as though her shameful thoughts to be blanked out. It did not work. How could she be so wonton as to dream like that? To want her enemy like that? He was beautiful, there was no denying it. But it was wrong for her to think about real men like Kenshin stark naked…

"Are you awake?" it was Yahiko, on the other side of the curtains, as effective an antidote to desire as any she could think of.

"Yes."

"Well, get up then!" he sounded irritable. "Kenshin said I had to stay here until you were up and working with Megumi."

"He's not here?" Oh, merciful escape if he is not. To have to see his face with the memories of that dream still in my head…

"He's in the city, gone to Council. I should be there, waiting on him, not hanging around while you wake up."

"Well go then!" Kaoru snapped.

"I can't" Yahiko's voice became fainter, he was obviously walking away. "I have to make sure you have breakfast and go safely to Megumi's"

"I'm quite capable of both." Kaoru flung back the blankets and got up. "Is there hot water?"

"Yes, my lady. In a pot on our fire if your ladyship would condescend to come and get some." Yahiko sounded both angry and sarcastic.

Big words for a brat. She thought, tugging her kimono on to her shoulders and wrapping it tightly with her obi. She scooped up her sandals and emerged into the main tent.

Yahiko, wearing a fine linen gi edged with silver and silver clasps at his wrists, looked older-until she saw his expression, which was pure sulky youth.

"I was expecting to see our leader, Aoshi. I have to do him honor."

"Well go see your precious leader or king or whatever his is and hold Kenshin's horse or whatever it is you're all dressed up to do."

Yahiko muttered curses under his breath, red rising up his cheeks. Kaoru realized that it was true anger and that she had spoke badly about their leader. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to insult your leader, but he is my enemy. I give you my word I will wash, eat and go see Megumi."

Yahiko narrowed his eyes at her. "Your word? Is the word of a spoiled city woman any better than those of the men?"

"My word is good." Kaoru said steadily. And I did not promise not to try to escape, only to see Megumi.

"Alright." He was out of the tent at a run. A minute later she saw him canter past on his horse, a cloak whipping behind him.

Kaoru went to the latrine, managing with some difficulty, to persuade Saitou to wait outside. Still, he was as good as a bolt on the door ensuring privacy. He hugged her side while she ladled hot water into a bowl and washed.

Freshly washed, her clothing straight, she set her sleeping space in order, then surveyed the rest of the tent. Yesterday's platters and chopsticks and spoons lay unwashed in a large bucket. She pulled back the curtain that screened Yahiko's space and saw his bed was in disorder and a pile of dirty clothes lay on the floor. Kaoru poked at them with her toe, shrugged and went to investigate Kenshin's space. It was in a like state, only, much to her surprise, the pile of discarded clothes was much larger.

"Hmm" Kaoru found rice and honey and sat down to eat inside the tent. She washed up what she had used that morning and the night before and replaced it on the shelves, tied a loop of leather around an eating knife and fixed it around her waist under her kimono and went out of the tent. Leaving the housework exactly as she found it.

Megumi was dropping clothes into a large bucket of steaming water. "Good morning Kaoru." The woman smiled. "Do you have clothes?"

"Clothes? Oh? For washing? No I found hot water myself." Megumi looked satisfied, she must of thought she had left the laundry soaking in the tent. Kaoru smiled. "Can I help you?" She had no objection to helping the nice woman with the clear eyes and swollen belly. She just had no intention of cleaning up after two hulking males.

"Yes, thank you." Megumi nodded in agreement. "Could you bring me more water?" She asked as she bent over the steaming water to push the clothes under the water with a wooden stick.

"Alright." Kaoru found the yoke leaning against the tent wall and she hooked on the empty buckets and lifted the yoke. "Where from?"

"The river is that way." Megumi pointed. "It's a small river, but you can't miss it."

Interested to see how far Saitou was prepared to let her go, Kaoru followed the direction Megumi had indicated. It led downhill and, as she went, she passed other women coming back, all carrying water. They stared wide-eyed at her fancy kimono, but nodded and smiled when she greeted them. None of them showed any surprise or alarm at the wolf padding at her side-doubtless by now they all knew that she was a slave belonging to Kenshin.

At the bottom of the slope was the stream, its banks muddy and trampled. Someone had set stones as a makeshift hard standing and a small queue of women and built up, waiting patiently while their friends took turns to stand dry-shod while they dipped their buckets.

"I'll just see if there's another spot." Kaoru said brightly to Saitou as she strolled off across the shoulder of the valley. She wandered along, trying to give the impression that she was interested in the gaudy flash of birds flying over or the spikes of wildflowers in the shade of bushes. The first meander in the stream took them out of sight of both the watering place and any of the tents on the hill and there, straight as an arrow across the water was a line of stepping stones, and on the opposite bank, a deep grove of trees.

Now, all she had to do was to distract the wolf. There was a tree by the stones on her side, if she could just slip off some of her bindings and tie them around his neck and to the tree…then there was a flurry of movement in the grass in front of them, a dozen white blurs tore frantically away. "Look, Saitou, rabbits…catch!"

The wolf was off from a standing start, terrifying death behind the desperate rabbits. Kaoru dropped the yoke and took to her heels, sliding an slipping down the slope, onto the first stepping stone and the next. Almost across now. There was a splash to one side of her and Saitou pulled himself out of the stream on the far bank. He trotted around to face her at the end of the line of stones, head tipped to one side, coat dripping.

Kaoru balanced, arms outstretched, the stone rocking treacherously under her sandaled feet. "You are suppose to be chasing rabbits!" she shouted, the wolf didn't budge. Kaoru muttered curses under her breath. "Fine, let's go back and get the water for Megumi."

… . .

"Well? What did Aoshi say? Kenshin-sama?" Yahiko was nearly bouncing from one foot to the other as Kenshin emerged from the building where their leader held the council. To one side of the building a group of depressed and defected looking senators waiting to have an audience with the barbarian samurai leader. Kenshin found himself eyeing them curiously. Was one of those pompous men Kaoru's father? Did he know he had his daughter? How many of them had she entertained as a geisha? How many of them lusted for her fantasy in secret and how many pathetically pined away for her attentions publicly?

He watched the group o me swelter in the mid-day heat in their formal attire. Layer, upon layer of cloth and silks. They wanted to impress the intruders, much good it did them.

"Kenshin-sama?"

"Yahiko, if our leader wanted you to know what we talk about in council, he would have invited you to the meeting." Kenshin felt hot, irritable and sweaty. He had violently disagreed with Aoshi's plan for the next stage of their journey and none of this had been helped by the fact that he kept thinking about Kaoru at the most inappropriate times. He had been on his feet most of the day, arguing his case for them to move northwest into rich well watered lands of Japan . They were open and inviting to farming people. But Aoshi, backed by his group of supporters had other ideas and Kenshin or his supporters could say nothing to sway them.

Some of his fellows had approached Kenshin. The leader was weary of him, they said. His supporters were suspicious. They knew many would follow Kenshin and that frightened them. Such a loss of population would be devastating. Kenshin assured them that he was loyal, and would be until his death. He would not go against the word of his leader. No matter how much he wanted to. Kenshin's followers had all agreed that their life was far better now that they followed Kenshin. They had gold, they had a ransom. When Aoshi did die…it wouldn't be hard to decide who's side they would be on. Kenshin's…if he was named new leader or not.

That knowledge had shaken Kenshin. It troubled him still. He wanted to lead his people as he was leading them now. He did not want to become head of this outcast population. He left that decision to the higher authorities. He didn't want to be the downfall of his people. For if they split, they surly would fall.

Kenshin tried not to worry about it too much. There was no reason to think about who would take over the throne of leadership while Aoshi was still healthy and well. But only a fool would think that it could stay like that for long. They never knew when they could be attacked next. When their leader might fall in battle.

Kenshin blinked out of his thoughts and found himself standing there, fingers tapping on his sword hilt while Yahiko looked worriedly at him. "We stay one more day. This is all I can tell you. The food is running out."

"But, are we going after Takeda?" Yahiko asked eagerly.

"We will stay one more day. When I can tell you what is going to happen, then I will. Until then, this is all you need to know. Now, where are the horses?"

"Here, Kenshin-sama." Yahiko started for a small cluster of trees where the horses were tied. He untied them and handed Kenshin the reins to his horse. The well dressed pair swung up into their saddles. "You look tired."

"I've been sitting on my backside in a hot room with sweaty men all day. I've been up and down, talking and arguing so much my throat is raw, my feet ache worse than after a two-day march…otherwise I'm fine."

"We could race." Yahiko suggested hopefully. "It's been a while from our last race."

Kenshin shelded his eyes and saw the strech of cobblestone that lead up to the city gates and the small dirt trail that lead to their camp. "Alright, pass the gates to the first grove of trees before the camp."

"You're on." Yahiko said as he dug his heels into his mount.

… . . …

They rode into camp several minutes later. Their horses were slick with sweat and the two men laughed at each other . Yahiko had a dusting of small green leaves in his spiked hair and Kenshin was missing a few inches of skin from his left arm. Weaving through the grove of trees had been fun, despite the few knocks the young men took. Luckily though, they didn't snag their good clothes on the trees.

"I could eat a horse." Yahiko said, sliding off the horse to the ground. He winced slightly where a branch had hit him in the ribs.

"Two horses. But a hot bath first." Kenshin slapped him on the back and walked the boy to the tent. He noticed the fire pit that was neglected to the point of going out. "Strange, there's nothing on the fire. Where's Kaoru?" He flipped back the tent flap and went in. Flies buzzed around the previous night's dirty dishes. Yahikoi's bed was just as he left it. Kenshin took a look at his own bed and saw that he was in the same shape. He kicked at a pile of fifty clothes and stalked around the tent and pulled back the curtain to her bed space. "Kaoru!"

Her bed space was immaculate, and empty.

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A/n Kaoru is in a bit of trouble me thinks. Ooo I can't wait to see what happens, can't you? Thanks for reading, Reviews are loved!


	5. Bath Time

A/N Wow it's been a while from the last time I looked at this story. I'm sorry for leaving you Guys on a cliff hanger for so long. I hope this will make it all better. I won't spend a lot of time chatting, I'll let everyone get right to the story.

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Chapter 5

"Kamiya Kaoru!" It was a bellow now. He was hot, hungry, the excitement of the race was starting to wear off and he could feel every little knock he took going though the trees. He had expected comfort and soft, feminine attention to his needs, not fly-covered dishes and heaps of grubby linen.

"She's washed up the things she's used." Yahiko said, prodding the dishes. "Just hers."

"Kaoru-"

The sound of Saitou's bark brought them around the corner of the tent. Kaoru was sitting on one of the folding stools, and taking advantage of the late afternoon sun. She looked, he saw with growing fury, beautiful. Her braid was thrown over one shoulder; her gentle profile was smooth and calm.

There were the remains of a meal by her side and she was amusing herself by combing Saitou's thick coat. The wolf was lying on his back, paws in the air, letting her groom his stomach.

"That's my comb!" The childish complaint was out of Kenshin's mouth before he could stop it. Yahiko gave a gasp of shocked laughter as he ducked out of the way of retribution.

"Really?" She said indifferently. "It was on the floor and some of the teeth were broken. There's a good boy, then!" She said as her eyes kept glued to the wolf, not to his master.

"Where's our dinner? Why isn't the washing done? Why is the tent a mess?"

"Because that is how you left it. Megumi gave me some food; just now…I think she expected you to be eating in the city." The young woman said, her laughing eyes still locked onto the animal.

"Because you told her so, I suppose?" Kenshin was so angry his vision was starting to flood with red. Kaoru added fuel to the flames by shrugging one delicate shoulder in elegant grace.

Kenshin took a deep breath. "Saitou, get up and stop acting like a dog. Yahiko, go and build up the fire and put on the biggest pot. Then go and buy a chicken and ask Megumi is she would prepare it for us. Then go and get the tub off the cart and scrounge up more hot water. You can take a bath at your sister's. Sano won't be back for a while yet."

"And you" He pointed a finger at Kaoru. "You make the beds and gather up the dirty clothes and wash the dishes and when you're done with that you can damn well scrub my back."

Yahiko left at a run, he was glad to see. As for Kaoru- damn he was angry enough to turn her over his knee and beat her with a cane stick. Saitou got to his feet and padded over to his side, tail waving apologetically. Kaoru just sat and stared at him defiantly.

"Move!" He roared. She jumped, got to her feet with a look of scorn and strode off to the tent. Kenshin followed, leaning against the front tent pole, watching with narrowed eyes as Kaoru disdainfully twitched the bedclothes back into order. She kicked the dirty clothing into a pile before shoveling it into a basket and then picked up the bucket of dirty dishes.

"You'll have to move if you want me to put these in hot water." Kaoru stood in front of him, her free hand fisted on her hip as her eyes narrowed into a glare. If Kenshin had not been so skilled at reading an opponent, watching the eyes of a swordsman for a flicker of intent…he would have thought her unafraid. As it was, he could feel a sneaking admiration for the way she stood up to him, despite the fear flickering in the back of those big blue eyes and the betraying pulse at her temple under the fine skin.

And he was frightening, Kenshin knew it…he had to look dangerous and he had to follow through on it whenever necessary. He could not hide that from her, even if he wanted to- and he didn't.

Even though he was only slightly taller than her, he was nearly twice her weight from rock hard muscles that twitched just under his skin. He was half-naked, sweaty, battered...for all she knew, he had been fighting, yet she did not flinch. He remembered the way she had resisted those two men in the alley, hopelessly, outnumbered and outweighed, but not giving up. He had no wish to break her spirit, but he was starting to wonder if that was what it would take to bend her to his will.

"Will you please move?" Kaoru repeated, trying not to let her voice shake. _He's scary, and big…and attractive._ She was utterly horrified at herself for thinking it but she could not deny it. Something fundamentally female was responding shamefully to the nearness of power and arrogance and sheer masculine beauty.

Kenshin moved to the side with a feline grace and she made herself walk past him and out to the fire. If his size had made him clumsy she knew she would not feel this erotic tug. But he moved like a panther, not like the bear he sounded like when he growled. And when he was so near, she could not stop watching him. Kaoru scooped hot water over the greasy dishes, well aware that he was watching her.

What would he think if he knew she was having arousing, lurid dreams about him? _Dreams so real I can still feel the heat of his skin under my hand._ She gave herself a hard mental shake and fixed a studiedly neutral expression on her face.

There was a rumble and Kaoru turned to watch as Yahiko and a second youth rolled what looked to be a half barrel from the side of the tent. They disappeared inside the tent and Kaoru pulled back the tent flap. Curious as to what they were doing. Once centered in the tent they rocked it until it turned and settled on its flat top. The tub came almost to her hips and was high and long enough for a man to sit down comfortably.

"Ugh, you sit and bathe in dirty water?" Where as Kaoru was use to washing first, then soaking in a tub of hot water. Why was she surprised that it was a little different with barbarians.

"With an absence of a proper bathhouse and slaves, yes." Kenshin said as he removed the few bit of jewelry he wore for the meeting, He then kicked off his sandals.

"Kaoru! Watch your back." Yahiko called. Kaoru jumped aside just as Yahiko and his friend rushed in with buckets of hot water. "He'll want fresh towels…over there." Yahiko tipped his head to the back of the tent as he and his friend left with the empty buckets.

Kaoru grumbled as she slipped into the tent and to the back where there was a large stack of towels. How many could a man need? She wondered as she grabbed a few off the top of the pile. She also picked up a soap ball from the jar that sat next to the towels. Kenshin had given her one the day before, they were crude but Kaoru had to admit they were effective for washing. There was more splashing as the boys worked hard to fill the large tub.

"That should be enough." Yahiko declared after the third trip. "I'll go have my own bath now." With that the boys left the tent and Yahiko closed the tent flap leaving Kaoru alone with Kenshin. Kenshin reached in to test the steaming water. Kaoru rushed to set the towels down beside the tub and turned away.

"No, if you could fold one on the edge of the tub so I can rest my head on it."

Kaoru paused in mid step; she turned to look at the man over her shoulder. Kenshin stood, waiting for her to do as he said. His scolding was still fresh in her mind and Kaoru sighed as she turned around to do as he asked. 'Yes M'lord' Kaoru fumed as she folded the towel over the tub just as he'd asked. She looked up in time to see his gi fall from his shoulders and his hands working the ties of his Hakama pants. Kaoru turned away with a gasp. It was definitely time to go.

"Where are you going?"

"Out." Kaoru swallowed hard. There hadn't been any splashing, meaning Kenshin was standing naked only a few feet away from her.

"Wait, I may need more hot water."

Kaoru bit down on her lip to control her nervous temper. She could hear the gentle splashing of water as Kenshin climbed into the tub and she let herself relax a little. She heard Kenshin sigh, happy with temperature then she heard him say,

"I need another bucketful of hot water."

Damn that man! Kaoru clenched and unclenched her fists in front of her. She turned, catching only a small glimpse of the man in the tub as she snatched the empty bucket from the side of the tub and marched outside. There she saw water waiting to steam in a large pot on the campfire. She tested it with her finger. It was ice cold. Straight from the steam, not even having enough time in the sun to take the chill off of it. It was perfect. Kaoru poured it into the bucket and hefted it up and marched back inside the tent.

Over the rim of the tub she could see Kenshin resting his head. His hair looked even more like blood as it hung wet and heavy about his shoulders. His eyes were closed as he relaxed. "Just pour it straight in."

"Certainly." Kaoru tried to lift the heavy bucket but the tub edge was too high. So Kaoru grabbed one of the few small stools and stood on that. She took a moment to check her balance before lifting the bucket. Kaoru let her eyes wander. First to Kenshin's resting face. Then to his bare shoulders and chest and the shadow of the rest of his body under the water. "Where exactly should I pour it?" She asked sweetly.

Kenshin's hard lavender eyes snapped open but it was too late. Kaoru turned the bucket over, unleashing a torrent of ice cold water to hit his square in the chest. She expected coughing, sputtering and shouts of rage. What she didn't expect was for him to rise straight out of the tub with a bellow of fury. Kaoru was so startled she almost fell from the small stool she was standing on. Kenshin wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her down into the tub with him.

"Arg!" Kaoru shouted as she realized she was in the tub and now wet from the hips down. Kaoru went stone still for a moment as she felt Kenshin's arm around her tighten just before he sat down, pulling her under the water. Kaoru kicked and struggled, knocking knees and tangling their legs and stepping hard on his feet before he let her up for air.

Kenshin was shouting curses as Kaoru's head surged out of the water and he shook her hard as she coughed for air and struggled to push her wet hair from her face. "You are a serpent!"

"I'm not your slave and I'm not your servant! I'm am a free citizen of this city you have attacked. I'm a geisha and I will not fetch and carry, nor will I take orders from a loutish barbarian!" her declaration was hindered by the fact that her braid had come undone and her mass of wet hair was still hanging in her face. She stood to climb out of the tub but her feet became tangled in her kimono and she fell back to land hard on her bottom. "Oh, I can't move!" She shouted as she beat the water with both fists.

Sobbing in anger and frustration, Kaoru worked to pull her Kimono up high enough to stay clear of her feet but she froze as she felt Kenshin's hands on her back working the large knot out of her obi. It hardly took him a moment to remove the large strip of cloth from her kimono and toss it over the tub. Instantly his hands returned to the Kimono.

"What are you doing!?" Kaoru shouted as the pair struggled. Kaoru kicked and screamed as Kenshin yanked her free of the heavy, wet silk garment and tossed it over the side as well.

_I'm naked! I'm naked in this tub with a naked man!_ Her thoughts raced as she covered her breasts in her arms, arms that didn't seem to cover much. "Let me out of here." Kaoru demanded, her voice vibrating with feeling she didn't dare express to Kenshin.

All anger seemed to have flooded out of Kenshin. He was leaning back, his arms draped over the rim of the tub, water dripping from his chin with an appreciative grin on his face. The water lapped up around his chest, still sloshing around from their struggles. Kaoru tried hard not to stare at his sculpted chest, the tendons at his throat. She could feel his strong legs, one on each side of her hips as she crouched there. "Please." She added.

He lifted one hand and gestured to the edge of the tub. "Feel free."

"Stand up? In front of you?"

"I could always stand up instead and turn my back, that I could." He offered. She could see he was trying very hard to keep from laughing.

"Thank you, no." She glared at him. "Can't you just close your eyes?"

"No, I'm enjoying myself." He admitted simply.

Growling, Kaoru put her hands on the edge of the tub as though she were about to climb out of it. Instead she snatched at the towel Kenshin was resting his head on. He caught her by the wrist easily and held her.

"Now what?" He asked with a straight face.

"This." Her slender hold on her temper snapped and launched herself at him, beating at his grip with her fee hand. "Let..me..go!" She shouted with each blow of her small fist.

His response was never what she expected. She should have learned that by now. He made no attempt to block her blows; he simply pulled her close in against himself. Frightened, curious and excited all at the same time, Kaoru looked up into his clear lavender eyes that were so close she could count his eyelashes. Confused, Kaoru let her anger take over.

"You savage! Let me go!"

Silence fell and for a long moment they stared at each other, then, with a growl, Kenshin released he hand and grabbed her by her waist and trapped her mouth with his. It was like her dream, Kaoru realized. Their bodies touched together as her hands came up to grip his shoulders and her mouth opened under his with an instinctive, fierce response she did not know she had.

They were both angry. She had no idea whether she was more angry at him than at herself. But there was no mistaking that Kenshin was utterly furious with her, and completely determined to bring her panting and pleading to his feet.

His grip on her was punishingly hard, he plundered without any mercy, lips and teeth and tongue possessing and taking with a power that seemed to only increase as she refused to give in to it. His kisses were hard and demanded obedience as he plunged his tongue into her open mouth. Kaoru might be a bit innocent but she knew what his kisses were mimicking. She refused to let him control her. She would turn the tables and make him beg for her. Writhing against him under the water, she tangled her own tongue with his as she plunged her hands into his hair.

He let her go as violently as he had taken her, shoving her away from him. Kaoru fell back against the side of the tub gasping as a wave of water splashed her. She rubbed the back of her hand across her swollen mouth, staring at him with wide-eyes.

"You seem like a virgin-but you don't act like one." He snapped at her, his chest heaving for air.

Kaoru's mouth dropped open. "Hypocrite! You want to lecture me on my behavior? You kissed me, you forced me!" her hands started to shake and she clasped them together to keep from beating the water.

"Forced you? I think not Kaoru."

She could feel the shamed blood staining her cheeks, saw on Kenshin's face nothing but male arrogance and the desire to dominate. She had fought back, not with fists but with her sensuality, and Kenshin could not deal with that, she told herself, fighting for some balance in this fight.

"You are an animal." She managed to spit out.

"I would be taking you on the floor right now or even in this tub if that were the case."

Kaoru gasped as Kenshin stared at her haughtily and she read his pride and the indignation that she had insulted him by his burning amber eyes. "Wash my back." He stated.

"What? Now?"

"Yes now." He reached one long arm over the side of the tub and retrieved the soap ball

"I would sooner stick a knife in it." she retorted flatly.

"I'm aware of that." Kenshin shifted around until his broad back was towards her. His disregard for the danger she posed was an affront in itself.

Kaoru gazed at the expanse of his shoulder, the long, flexible line of his back, the strong dip to the spine, the dramatic narrowing to his hips. Below the water she could see the taut shape of his buttocks. His long wet hair was plastered to the skin of his shoulders and hanging to his arms as he pulled it out of her way.

"Now." He growled. "The water is getting cold."

Kaoru growled back in frustration as she snatched the soap from his outstretched hand. She quickly made a lather and washed herself as fast as she could. Sharing bathwater wasn't the best way to get herself clean but she figured she may as well seize the chance while she had it.

"What are you doing?" Kenshin asked over his shoulder at the sound of splashing water.

"Washing." Kaoru answered as she ducked her head under the water to rinse off.

"Well then wash me, slave girl."

Kaoru gritted her teeth as she scooped up the rest of his hair and slung it over his shoulder and then attacked his back with the rough soap ball. Kenshin grunted, and Kaoru was sorry to see that it was not in discomfort, but in pleasure as she struggled to work the soap into his back. She worked her fingers into the muscles of his back and couldn't help but admire such masculine muscles, following them down to his waist and going no further.

"You've stopped." Kenshin stated, turning to look at her. Kaoru edged closer to him, her only way to hide her naked body. Her bare breasts were only a breath away from touching his back.

"You can reach the rest." She tossed the soap ball up over his shoulder. Without thinking, Kenshin lunged for it. Kaoru then scrambled up and over the tub's edge, snatching up her soaked clothes and darted for her bed space.

… . ….

Kenshin caught the soap ball one-handed, pivoting as he did so to admire the rear view of Kaoru as she vanished behind the curtain to her bed space. "Little witch." Kenshin muttered as he settled back into the rapidly cooling water.

What had happened had been no part of his intentions, but with Kamiya Kaoru it seemed his prized self-control was like a reed in the wind. She could provoke him just by the way she lowered her lashes, let alone by the sight of her naked body a hand's span from his.

Kenshin lifted a foot to the edge of the tub and soaped the muscles of his leg, giving proper attention to the muscle he had strained two weeks before. Keeping himself in condition was important, some chit of a girl, however aggravating, was not.

Only…only she was not a girl. She was short and had big innocent eyes and he had been fooled at first into thinking that she was no older than Yahiko. She was far from his own age of twenty-seven winters but he supposed she was close to twenty herself.

She was beautiful if a bit strong-headed. Why would a father put such a girl into the geisha world? Kamiya had more than enough money to take care of one more child. Kaoru should be married by now.

Kenshin shifted uncomfortably. He had not meant to kiss her. He knew better, he knew just what reaction his body would have if he took that lush angry mouth with his. He already knew how her body would feel pressed up against his. His body had only confirmed his imagination of her soft body against his hard, bruised flesh.

But this small reward was not without guilt and a jab at his honor. It was low-handed way to kiss the woman, and he really wasn't a man to take by force. Even one who attacked him with her own sensuality; though he was sure she had no idea of her doings. She couldn't have known the danger she had put herself in by trying him. Did she understand the fire she was playing with? How was she so sure that he was a man of his word?

Didn't Kaoru go white when he mentioned taking her on the floor? And yet she kept taunting him. Somewhere, in all that anger she was still trusting him to keep his word of honor, and it somehow warmed him inside even with the ache in his body. Sighing, Kenshin shoved his emotions away in a place in his mind. He must not show such emotion.

Kenshin stood in the tub, the water surging upward with him and he grabbed a towel and wrapped it about his hips as Yahiko stepped into the tent. The boy was clean, his damp hair slicked back.

"Megumi wants to know if you want a salve for-What the hell?!"

Kenshin froze, his eyes to the beaten earth of the tent floor. Trodden, swept with a stiff broom, the summer-hardened earth had made a perfectly serviceable floor. Now there was a muddy ring around the tub, a quagmire right in the center of the living space.

"Your lord splashes a great deal." Kaoru emerged from her corner of the tent, her creased clothes clung to her wet body and she kept her gaze scornfully adverted from Kenshin as he stood there up to his mid-thigh in cooling, dirty water. "I was surprised to find him so clumsy."

With a flick of her skirts, Kaoru picked her way carefully around the mud, past the gapping youth and out of the tent.

Kenshin balled the towel up in his hands. "Empty the tub, get some straw for the floor and sort something out with that hell-cat for dinner." He climbed grimly out of the tub, stepped over the mud and onto dry ground.

Yahiko swallowed loudly. "What are you going to do to her?"

Kenshin stood where he was, hands resting at his sides and considered his tactics. He saw the shadow slide under the tent flap and he raised his voice. "Do to her? Why, nothing. Nothing at all. If she wants to eat, then she must cook. If she wants to drink, then she must fetch water, and if she wants to sleep on a bed then she must wash linens." _And if she wants to tempt and torment me with those lips and soft curves, those blue eyes-then she will find I am as much a rock to her wiles as to her temper._

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A/n Oooo dramatic music time. Kaoru got herself in some hot water haha. She's gonna have to act carefully know of she might feel Kenshin's Wrath. Something tells me he is not to be pushed much more than he is now. Ooo but we know Kaoru, don't we? hahah reviews are loved. Thanks for reading!


	6. Chore Time

A/n 'ello fellow readers and reviewers. I hope everyone is having a great time now that school is over for the summer. I don't like this chapter very much. I found it to be very…blah… it's basically a transition chapter before all the action to come. Some good info or else I wouldn't post it. I tried to add something to it but I figure I had better post it before I made the chapter worse.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin or this story line.

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Chapter 6

Kaoru stepped silently away from the tent flap. Saitou padded around the corner and eyed her. "We are both a disgrace." She said softly. "You for acting like a dog and me for being me I suppose." Further defiance seemed pointless now. She would only end up hungry and thirsty. Kenshin would be no worse off than he was before he brought her here and Megumi would carry on looking after two households.

The sun was getting low now and the smell of cooking wafted up from the cooking pots all around. The noise level started to rise now as the men returned home and children ran to their camps after play.

It was far too late to try and prepare something for supper now. If Kenshin told Megumi to not feed her then the woman would obey him, but Kaoru was sure Megumi would help her tonight.

Megumi came out of her tent as Kaoru approached it. Megumi's small daughter peered around her skirts and gazed at the stranger. "I have clothes for you." She said before Kaoru could make a sound. "I know they are not what you are used to, but here." She held out a pile of fabrics and smiled as Kaoru took them. "They are starting to get too small for me." She gestured to her swelling figure. "I can teach you so you can make more."

Kaoru smiled down at the clothing. "Thank you, can you teach me to cook too? Kenshin says I have to cook or not eat."

Megumi smiled and there was a knowing twinkle in her eyes. Kaoru blushed; knowing that Kenshin's bellowing could not be smothered by canvas walls. She was sure half the camp heard his anger.

"Help yourself." Megumi pointed to the fireside. "Yahiko already brought me two chickens, they will be ready soon and there is rice here." She pointed to a small pot keeping warm by the fire.

Kaoru thanked her again, smiled at the shy little girl and made her way back, passing Yahiko laden with two buckets of dirty water. She had no intention of going back into the tent while Kenshin was in goodness knows what state of disturbing undress, so she set her new clothes on a stool and poured the greasy water off the dishes and started washing them.

Kaoru shouldn't be so shy about a man's body. She was a geisha after all and as such, she was not a virgin. When her training ended, her virginity was auctioned off to the highest bidder. She remembered very little about the man who won the right to take away her innocence. Kaoru had kept her eyes adverted from him most of the time, too shy to really look anywhere else. When the time came, she kept her eyes tightly shut. She had no idea what a man looked like when he was naked. She remembered a bit of pain, a few moments of movement and then it was over. Afterwards she wondered just what the big deal was. But she had always been shy when it came to seeing a man in any state of undress. Unlike some of her geisha sisters, who had apparently taken far more pleasure in the savage act than she did.

The dishes were draining in the bucket when Saitou lifted his head and his tail began to thump cautiously against the ground.

Kenshin was bare to the waist, a towel thrown over his shoulder and a bone comb in his hand. He nodded to Kaoru as casually as if they had been discussing the weather a short time ago. He tugged at Saitou's ears before hooking a stool with his foot and dragging it over for him to sit on.

_If I tell him to put a gi on he will realize just how much he disturbs me when he walks around half naked. _She fumed, as she managed to force a tight smile. Yahiko, his friend at his heals, vanished inside the tent and appeared again moments later with the tub.

When she turned her attention back to Kenshin she found him sectioning off a wide strand of hair. Now that she saw it both wet and combed out it looked almost as long as hers. Though the color of it was extraordinary, she couldn't help but think of how much of a nuisance it must be to have. Wouldn't it get caught in mail and armor? Or stick to his sweaty skin in battle, blowing in his eyes? Most of the men in camp wore their hair long, so Kaoru figured it must be the fashion for these barbarians. Somehow she didn't think Kenshin would be bound by such trivial things as keeping up with the latest fad. With such disadvantages, he was sure to keep his hair shorn.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Braiding my hair." He said without looking away from the last part of his plating.

"I can see that." _Why do men have to be so literal_? "Why?"

"You should have asked why in the first place." Kenshin said. "Women are so indirect. It is custom and it takes up some of the length."

"But then why have it that long in the first place?" One would have thought he would have thought about by now and realized that if he just cut it then he wouldn't have to worry about the length. There was a set of shears in the tent on one of the shelves, she recalled. She could cut it for him now, it would be better now that it was wet. As Kaoru ducked under the tent flap, she noticed the straw pilled in the center of the floor. Kaoru smiled, served the rake right to deal with his muddy camp. She picked her way around the mess, found the shears. They seemed well used but still clean and sharp, they would do excellently.

Kaoru emerged from the tent and Kenshin had his back to her. He had already braided and bound half his hair and was now reaching for the back. "Here, let me." Kaoru said. She picked up a section and lifted it to pull it to try and judge where she should cut. It would be horrible to get rid of such beautiful hair; perhaps she would shorten it by half. She made an experimental snip of the shears to try them out.

They made a crisp snipping sound and Kaoru pulled the lock of hair tauter between her fingers just as she was thrown to the ground. She landed hard on her knees. Kenshin swung around and seized her by the wrists and hurled her away. The shears went flying and Kaoru only saw a glimmer of them in the sun before she crashed to the ground. The shears landed points down inches from her face and embedded themselves in the earth.

Yahiko came running and fell to his knees next to Kenshin who sat frozen, his face white. "Has she cut it?" The boy gasped as he reached for his master's hair, running his fingers through the lose strands.

"I don't know." Kenshin said between clenched teeth. "Check."

Half-winded from the fall and confused, Kaoru climbed to her knees as Yahiko combed through his wet hair. "No, no it's all right. You were in time.

"I wasn't trying to attack him." Kaoru gasped as both men swung around to stare at her. Brown and amber eyes both flashing in an emotion that went beyond fury. "I…I was only trying to cut his hair."

"_Cut his hair?!_ Have you no idea what you nearly did?!" Yahiko gasped. "Stupid, spoiled girl!"

"For Heaven's sake…" Kaoru scrambled to her feet. "You carry on like a woman who just had her hairstyle ruined. That long hair might be the fashion around here but it's hardly worth life and death." She snapped back.

"It _is_ life and death." Yahiko spat at her. Behind him Kenshin stood, the color that had drained from his face had returned.

"She doesn't know, I do not think it was deliberate." He said calmly, though his eyes watched her warily.

"What? I don't understand what you two are rambling about. What does it matter if your hair was cut?" Kaoru looked from one to the other and back again.

"Our clan is that of the Long-Haired Kings." He pulled Kaoru to sit on the stool. "No man with shorn hair can rule. In fact he is mostly seen as an outcast or a monk."

"Yeah, you may as well have cut off his balls." Yahiko added.

"Thank you Yahiko. Colorful, but unnecessary." A faint smile touched Kenshin's mouth as his shoulders relaxed from their tautness. "It's very sacred to our kinship, that it is."

"I thought you were past and above all those superstitious traditions." Kaoru wondered. She finally understood that what she had almost done was deadly serious. But she was unsure as to why.

"It doesn't have much to do with superstitions. It's who we are as a people, it's who I am." Kenshin sighed softly. "I can't explain it to you."

"But most all of you have long hair." Kaoru noticed. Some men sported creative ways to wear their long hair. "You can't all be leader."

Kenshin smiled slightly. "We are all leaders in our own right. We lead according to our abilities and our stations, be it leading a family, a war band or a kingdom."

Kaoru glanced away. She really did almost cause a catastrophe. "But it grows back." She muttered still stinging from the reprimand. "Who would have known if I had cut a little?"

"I would have known." Kenshin said starkly. Saitou padded across the camp and thrust his muzzle into the hand of his master. He was sensitive to the emotions he was hiding from his human companions. He glanced up at Kaoru and smiled. "Like losing your virginity, it cannot be repaired." Kaoru blushed furiously as Yahiko snickered. "You're face flushes like an innocent but I know geishas have their virginity sold off before they are allowed to become a full fledged geisha."

Yahiko stopped his giggles and tipped his head in curiosity.

Kenshin's smile grew as Kaoru's blush deepened. "So am I right Kaoru? My comparison?"

"I'm sure your comparison is correct." Kaoru said. "I don't recall much of losing my virginity, as I kept my eyes shut the whole time."

Yahiko guffawed and Kenshin tried hard not to chuckle just as Megumi walked across the camp with a large plate with two cooked chickens in her hand. If she had noticed the scuffle with the shears she gave no indication. "What are you laughing at?" She asked.

"Virginity." Yahiko said between his adolescent sniggers. Megumi balanced the platter in one hand and cuffed her brother near the ears and earned a yelp of pain.

"You two are acting like grubby little boys." Her blazing eyes flashed up to Kenshin and the warrior felt himself stiffen under the rage of the female. "I figured you would at least know better." She snapped sharply before turning and setting the plate of food in Kaoru's hands with a pitying look. She whirled around on her heel, glared at the males for a moment longer before stalking back to her camp.

There was a moment of silence. "What she said is true." Kaoru ventured. The dangerous emotions of the past few minutes hand finally past. "You should know better." Kenshin smiled and she watched as his shoulders dropped more, relaxed and amused. But Kaoru didn't deceive herself. What she had almost done would have been as serious as if she had stabbed him in the back with those shears. Worse, for she could see that it went to the heart of what he was as a man. And by telling her, he had handed her a weapon of awful power. Why would he trust her with that power?

She set the food on the small table then went and picked up the shears and shivered. She could kill someone in self-defense or to protect someone she loved, she thought. If she had a knife when those tradesman attacked her in the city she would have tried to kill them without a single thought. But she could not imagine killing someone's soul, their sense of themselves. Somehow, it seemed Kenshin knew that about her, just like how she knew, deep down, he would never force her, never harm her.

Kaoru glanced up from the shiny metal in her hands and caught Kenshin watching her face. Something past between them, some flash of understanding. Kaoru had no idea if it was important or not, but her skin prickled as if there was a storm gathering.

… . . …

Her meek acceptance of domestic chores appeared to raise no comment. If Kenshin assumed she had overheard his threats, he made no reference to them. Kaoru cleared away dinner, shifted the soaking clothes into fresh water, threw in a soap ball and hoped Megumi would demonstrate the knack of getting them clean in the morning.

Kenshin strode off, saying curtly that he had men to speak to. Yahiko was at his heals like a shadow. Saitou whined, but stayed near Kaoru's side while she passed the hour shaking out the clothes Megumi had given her and trying them on. The two linen gi-like shirts where not unlike her own back in the geisha house. There was also a pair of faded blue hakama pants. Kaoru hadn't worn such clothes since her time as an apprentice when she was a young girl. She smiled in memory. Tucked away in the middle of the clothes was a Kimono. Nothing at all like the fancy ones she was use to wearing. This kimono was made of a rough yellow silk painted with water lilies and water fowl. Kaoru wondered why Megumi would have a kimono such as this tucked away. Was it an heirloom, a wedding gift? Kaoru suddenly felt like a spoiled brat that had to be taken care of. With the yellow Kimono was a bright blue obi that further twisted the knife in deeper. Kaoru would take good care of this kimono. She would remember to thank Megumi again.

She tugged on the gi and skirt-like Hakama pants and tossed her abused garments in the tub with the rest of the dirty clothes. She hoped her new friend would have a remedy or some sort of magic to remove mud from the fine silk. That kimono was worth more to the geisha house than she was.

When that was done there was nothing else to occupy her. The tent was tidy; she had done all she had skill to do. There was laughter in the direction of Megumi and Sanosuke's dwelling. Someone a few rows off was singing and playing some sort of flute. A group of women walked past, giggling.

If she felt more at ease with them and their nature, she could sit with them at the fireside. Kaoru brooded. She could find out what would happen when they broke camp. For she was sure that would be the time there would be the most confusion and the best chance for her to escape. Plus she felt lonely as the evening wore on into twilight.

Kaoru folded away her new clothes and climbed into her bed. She piled up the blankets behind her and curled her arms around her knees. Saitou decided the end of the bed had been lift deliberately empty for him and climbed up and settled down with a sigh and promptly went to sleep. Kaoru poked him with her toe but he only curled up tighter. She was going to have to shove him off when she went to sleep or sleep sitting up. The male inhabitants of this tent, every one of them, were profoundly provoking.

Her lips curved in a forbearing smile and Kaoru caught herself up sharply. After hardly a day and a half she was becoming too used to this life, to the man and the youth, to Megumi and Saitou's constant companionship. It was madness and she did not understand it. Saitou was a big, dangerous animal and she never had so much as a lapdog. Yahiko was an adolescent with all the worst characteristics of a young male…and Kenshin-

Kenshin was someone of whom she should be extremely wary. He had snatched her up, made no bones of the fact that he wanted her as a slave and he showed, even at his kindest, not the slightest inclination to let her go.

At worst he was domineering, violent and sexually powerful. She had been raised to be the wife of a powerful man, of course, but one who was civilized, suave, reserved. She was not raised to find herself attracted to a savage, to a barbarian who made her blood surge hot. She was not meant to find herself feeling alive only in the presence of a man who was the enemy of her people and a direct threat to her own freedom.

Kaoru shifted uncomfortably on her makeshift pillows, trying to tell herself that these ambiguous feelings were the results of her dependence on the man for everything in this alien world. That and the fact that he had saved her life. She had failed, which left her to grapple with the even more uncomfortable thought that it was simply his physicality that dazzled her. Of all the gentlemen she entertained not a single one of them could stand up to Kenshin in the way of power and masculinity.

But it was more than that. She was not like those women one heard about that lusted after those mysterious samurai and dangerous men in general. Kaoru didn't understand Kenshin, she could not forgive him for snatching her away. But she liked him and for some strange reason, she trusted him, even though he was her captor.

"You're a fool Kamiya Kaoru." She said aloud to herself, causing Saitou to raise his long muzzle and look at her. "You can trust him to not you let you go. And you-" she set both feet hard against the wolf's ribs and pushed. "-you can get off my bed."

… . . …

Kenshin was smiling as he swung up into the saddle and cantered out of the camp at sunrise the next morning, with a yawning Yahiko at his back. There had been no sound from Kaoru during the night, but, looking in on her that morning, he found her curled up at the head of her bed and Saitou occupying the rest of the space.

It seemed that, for all their confrontations, Kaoru was settling down. When she learned how to wash and cook then things would be considerably more comfortable-once he had managed to get over the state of arousal that she produced in him. It was as unexpected as it was inconvenient-she was not at all the type of woman who normally appealed to him. She made sure to point out the fact that she regarded him as the enemy and that her present compliance was simply out of necessity.

Her stunningly erotic response to him in the bath proved nothing, he told himself. She was taunting him, hitting back by playing the same game he was, confident that he would not take it to the logical end. If he did, things would become far more complicated than they already were.

"What are you frowning about?" Yahiko asked as he rode his mount closer to his master's.

"I'm wondering if I'm a fool." What was he thinking acting that way with a girl who was supposed to be his slave? He had made it clear that he didn't intend to extend her duties to his bed. Not that he hadn't been tempted during his bath, extremely tempted.

Yahiko gazed at him with wide eyes. The boy held his master in the same glorious magnificence of a king. A man who never had any self doubt. He couldn't picture Kenshin second guessing himself.

"Come." Kenshin said finally as he dug his heals into the side of his ugly grey. "I have another long day with the council, that I do."

… . . …

Kaoru had no time to be bored with the men gone. Megumi happily demonstrated how to wash clothes, how to turn up the hem of worn out clothing and how to deal with a rabbit for the pot.

"Ugh." Kaoru stared at the skinned carcass with repulsion. Even when she was a young apprentice she didn't have to deal with things such as this. She accepted the knife that Megumi held out to her with reluctance. "And you can stop drooling." She informed Saitou tartly. The wolf knew an easy meal when he saw one and was obviously becoming impatient with her to hurry up with her preparations so she could give him the head. He hugged her side and followed every move of the knife until he had his prize.

Eventually a stew was prepared, herbs and greens were collected for a side dish, oils and seasoning were stirred into both the vegetables and the stew. And then Megumi's first lessons in rice cooking and riceball making began.

By mid-day Kaoru was hot and tired and her back ached. She had proven to be a bit shady when it came to cooking. But with Megumi's tutelage, nothing was burned. The arrival of Kenshin at the head of the largest group of men she had yet seen was a welcomed distraction. With hardly a word, the red-headed demon strode up the camp and ate the rice and sake she had set out. Around the camp the noise level was rising as they talked of the news they brought with them. It grew louder and louder until the air sounded like a hive of bees.

"What is it? What's happened?" Kaoru asked, having to tug at the sleeve of his gi to get his attention. "Has the city's army come?" Was freedom coming?

"No" he was dismissive, eyes on the neighboring tents. "He skulks, hidden away with his troops around him. Not even the insult of kidnapping his sister has drawn him out, that it hasn't." he sighed. "The decision has been made- we break camp and move tomorrow." He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes.

"Where? Where are we going?" _How will my father find me?_ Said a panicky voice in her head. She fought the panic and tucked it away. There was no way that these hundreds of people could move secretly through the Empire. Her whereabouts would be no secret to her father. But how would anyone find her? She was one ant in a swarming anthill.

"Wait and I will tell you along with everyone else." Kenshin said. "The men have gone to call their families. I will tell all my kin." His face was passive, his voice was calm, but Kaoru could see some emotion in his eyes that he was not giving away. She tried to read his purple eyes but all she could see was anger, rigidly controlled.

From all directions people were converging. Family groups shepherded in and lead by their menfolk. Bands of young men, jostling and flexing muscles, mature warriors with their swords in their belts, their faces were peaceful, yet serious. They all stood, legs apart, arms crossed, eyes narrowed while the womenfolk clustered around them.

Dangerous men, men who had followed Kenshin into her city. Men who would fight and kill her people if they were ordered.

Someone pulled a wagon into a clear space on the edge of the encampment. Kenshin put down his bamboo and wood cup and stalked up to it. As he climbed to stand on the planked seat the crowd fell silent, all faces turned to him.

"Do you know?" Kaoru took Yahiko's arm as the boy came to stand next to her. "Do you know where we are going?"

The boy shook his head. "No. Only the leader and his Council know. Listen, Kenshin will tell us right now."

Kenshin began to speak, his voice carrying across the still crowd as though he were giving orders on a battlefield. His speech called for bravery, and trust. But nothing about where they were to go. Kaoru could feel the whole crowd leaning, waiting to catch the name of where they would march. Finally, Kenshin uttered a single word and the whole camp gave a collective gasp.

"We move to the south-west. To China."

* * *

A/n And cue dramatic music. So now we know where they are going. Kaoru had better act fast before she gets swept away eh? I've already started the next chapter so I hope it won't be very long to update this time. Cross your fingers. Thanks for reading. Reviews are loved.


	7. The Challenger

A/n Hi everyone. Sorry for the long wait. I had to do some major editing work to get this from my writing exercise. Plus I started a new story called Buying a Baby. It looks like it's doing wonderfully and I'm going to continue writing it. If you haven't taken a look, please do. It's a KK romance as well.  
Anyways, I'm not going to bore you with my talking.

Disclaimer, I don't own Kenshin or the creative work of Allen.

I give this chapter a PG-13 rating.

* * *

"China? No, Impossible. Why China?" Kaoru felt sick. So far away, no one would ever find her there.

All around them there was turmoil. Women were wailing, men shouting questions. Kenshin's voice rose to a roar, cutting through the babble and the crowd fell silent again as he spoke.

"Because it is rich in grain…because there is more land there….because it gives us a hold on the whole Empire though trade shipments…Because the Empire is sending four thousand men to the city's aid." Yahiko muttered all this to Kaoru as she could hardly hear over the muted calls of the crowd.

"Your leader Aoshi will not stand and fight?" Four thousand men…it would be a bloodbath on both sides.

"Our King did not bring us here to have the ravens pick at our bones." Kenshin called, answering her whispered question. "Or the bones of our enemies, only for the land that was due to us."

Kaoru turned to Yahiko again. "And we leave tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow. There isn't enough food here anymore." The boy said.

_Then the very first chance I have, I must escape. There will be confusion now as people break camp and pack up._ Kaoru scanned the crowd and the encampment. All morning she had been up and down the path to the river. That would be the way to go, for Kenshin was sure to set Saitou on her track and her scent would be expected there. She would have to wade into the water and walk downstream to confuse the wolf in order for it to work. But first she had to find a way to get away from Saitou.

The crowd had begun to break up, straggling back to their tents and talking urgently among themselves.

"You need to show me how to help with the packing-" She started to ask Yahiko when a shout halted everyone in their tracks.

Kenshin had just jumped down from the wagon when he swung around to face a man who strode out of the edge of the crowd. He was a giant, more than two heads taller than Kenshin. His limbs were solid like tree trunks and his torso was as massive as a bear's. His hair was jet back and his long, face choleric with rage and in his hands he brandished a sword.

"Oh great. It's Jimni. He's always opposed Kenshin. The traitor." Yahiko stated, his face white as he backed up into Kaoru and pushed her away from them.

"Coward." The man spat at Kenshin. "Aoshi is wrong and all know it to be true. You are supposed to lead us, not give into his mad schemes that will be the death of all of us. I will not follow you any longer, Battousai, the Man Slayer. Nor will any of my kin. Your quest to take the throne for yourself will surly kill us all."

Kenshin stood, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword while the enraged man ranted himself to a standstill. "I wouldn't be so quick to lie, Jimni." Kenshin said in a calm, steady voice. "I would take back those insults if I were you and I'll pretend I didn't hear them."

The larger man gave a roar of fury and lunged with his sword. "Go to Hell, Battousai!" Saitou vanished from Kaoru's side to reappear behind Kenshin, hackles raised, teeth bared. Yahiko darted off after the animal and shoved his way to Kenshin's side, but well out of the way of his master.

Kenshin's sword swept from the scabbard as he side-stepped as elegantly as a panther as the bear of a man rushed past. Jimni turned and they crossed blades, the shriek of metal was sickening loud in the total silence that had fallen. Every face was turned to the battle unfolding in the circle of crushed grass. Kaoru realized that she had been left quite unguarded. Behind the nearest row of tents, out of sight, were the horse lines. She wouldn't even have to run down to the river.

She began to work her way through the crowd, but it was not until she reached the edge that she realized what she was doing. Instead of fleeing to the edge, she was now on the inner rim of the circle in plain sight of Yahiko and Saitou. She looked over to freedom that was only yards away but she couldn't draw back. In front of her eyes, Kenshin was fighting, not only for dominance, but for his life. She knew only a little in the ways of swordplay from her father, but it was obvious that both men were in deadly earnest. This battle would only end once blood had been shed, or worse.

As the men circled each other Kaoru noticed that Yahiko and a second youth followed them as quick as they could. They each had a short sword in hand, guarding their lords' backs from each other and from anyone trying to sabotage the fight from the crowd. If something happened to Kenshin, what would happen to Yahiko?

And surely Kenshin couldn't win against this giant of a man. Jimni had the advantage in weight, reach and height. Kaoru closed her fingers over her mouth and forced herself to watch. But Kenshin was faster, Kaoru realized, gasping as Kenshin ducked low under a wild, blind swing. He seemed to be as strong as the giant man, yet where Jimni was a bellowing mass of anger, Kenshin was icy calm. Slowly she was able to see the tactics he was using. He was leading the man in, trying to tire the heavier man out as his sword flashed and wove to strike and counterstrike.

They were sweating, both of them. Kenshin dashed his hand across his forehead and wiped away a few locks of sweaty hair that stuck to his face. His opponent was distracted by the movement and Kenshin lunged low. His sword point found the man's leg. It was only a glancing blow that didn't cut deep, but it was enough to make him bleed and bellow with rage.

He launched himself at Kenshin, cutting and stabbing at the air. The sheer weight and fury of the man drove Kenshin back until he was back up against the side of the wagon, taking away his advantage of speed and flexibility. With a grunt of triumph Jimni drew back his sword arm and thrust straight at Kenshin's chest.

Kaoru had no idea how she kept her eyes open, how she kept silent, or why she did not simply collapse out of sheer terror. The blade flashed forward and suddenly Kenshin was not there, but on the ground, rolling under the strike and surging back to his feet. His sword still clutched in his hand. Down his left forearm, blood was spilling in a crimson colored flood.

_No!_ Kaoru thought she had screamed it, but it was only a whisper of despair. Yahiko, who was scrambling, froze in his tracks, his eyes on Kenshin's wound. Saitou crouched down as if ready to spring at any moment.

Kenshin seemed to stumble, his guard wavered and with a roar of triumph, the giant rushed him, sword outstretched. Kenshin dropped again, his full weight on his wounded arm and shoved his sword upward under Jimni's guard, under the edge of his samurai armor, over his solid belly to find the target.

The man collapsed like a felled tree right on Kenshin, his head striking the wagon wheel. Yahiko rushed forward with his wickedly sharp sword and stood guard over the fallen men to keep Jimni's followers away. Saitou snapped at the air and growled by Yahiko's side. Kaoru found herself running, slipping on the wet grass until she too was at his side. "Give me the sword." She said as she tore it from Yahiko's grasp and thrust it outward towards the youth who was advancing. "Get Kenshin out of here, we need to stop the bleeding."

Jimni's man reached her then and Saitou let out a snarl. "Do you want your throat torn out?" She snapped at the man as she thrust the sword point at him. "I swear I'll set him on you if you don't step back." She was shocked at her own violence as was Yahiko.

Then Megumi was at her side with her husband Sanosuke at her heels. He took the short sword away from Kaoru and she helped Megumi and Yahiko roll the giant man off Kenshin.

Electric yellow eyes gazed up at her. "Why didn't you run when you had the chance?" He asked. But then Kenshin faltered, his eyes unfocused and his lips stopped moving.

"Idiot man. Megumi snapped as she fell to her knees beside Kaoru. "He needs to ask." She took Kaoru's hands and placed them over the savage wound on his arm. "Here, hold tightly, we have to stop the bleeding."

"But, his head-"

"Is like oak." Megumi interrupted. "But a hard head is not good without blood." She ripped off one of her thick hair ribbons and wrapped it around his upper arm. "See, this stops the blood, but we can't have it on for too long or the arm with starve for blood and will die."

_She's teaching me_. Kaoru realized and tried to ignore the nausea that was rising in her, trying to focus on what she was doing and not to faint as her hands slipped on so much blood.

Men came and together they carefully lifted and carried Kenshin back to his tent. She watched as Megumi counted softly to herself and then loosen the ribbon for a moment and then tighten it back up.

_I can go now. No one would notice._ The camp was in turmoil. Keening cries rose up as womenfolk gathered around Jimni. Men loyal to Kenshin gathered around, discussing what had just happened. Yahiko was crouched down at his side as he was worked on and Saitou stood nearby on the other side growling softly. _They are taking care of him, there is nothing I can do. I can do now._

But her feet wouldn't move. She even turned her body in the direction of freedom, and still her feet wouldn't move. So, instead she turned to duck inside the tent and went to Megumi's side. "What can I do?" She heard herself ask.

"Get water, and towels." Megumi said quickly. She looked up at her younger brother. "Bring me needles and linen thread." Yahiko nodded and darted off as fast as he could. "Kenshin's arm needs to be stitched."

"You will do it?" _Of course Megumi would do it._ Kaoru snapped at herself in her mind. Megumi knew what she was doing. Kaoru hadn't a clue. She felt very helpless, clumsy and worthless and suddenly she felt ashamed of her pampered, heedless existence.

"Kaoru will do it." Both women turned in surprise at Kenshin. He was pale under his tan skin, and there was pain around his eyes, but he was smiling up at them. "Kamiya Kaoru can sew a fine stitch, I'm sure. It is not good for you in your condition Megumi, to sit hunched over my wounded body, that it is not."

"I…I've never sewn up a wound before." Kaoru protested, wondering why the man was conscious. "Skinning a rabbit made me sick."

"I'm not a rabbit."

"No." Kaoru agreed, he certainly was no rabbit. She tried to keep her eyes off Kenshin's arm. "I don't know how."

"Yesterday you didn't know how to gut a rabbit, or make rice or wash clothes. Do you know now?" Surprisingly, it was Megumi who asked this.

"Yes! But…but this is different."

"How else will you learn than by doing it?" The older woman snapped.

"But why when you can do it better?"

"Because you are his woman." Megumi answered as she climbed to her feet with a grunt and a hand on the small of her back.

"I am not!" Kaoru was horrified.

"I saved your life. I own you. That makes you my woman." Kenshin stated. "And if you were not, then why didn't you run when you had the chance?"

There were more than just questions in that amber-purple gaze. There were assumptions and demands and something else that pulled her. "Because I was stupid." Kaoru said furiously. "I should have left."

"To late now, that it is."

Kaoru was amazed that despite having his arm laid open to the bone and taking a knock to the head, Kenshin was still able to carry on a conversation in his provoking way.

Yahiko came into the tent at a run and thrust a small roll of cloth into his sister's hands. "No." Megumi nodded toward Kaoru. "She will do it."

"Her! I am his man, I will do it if you will not."

"I've seen your patch work Yahiko." Kenshin said dryly. "Kaoru will do it."

It seemed as if there was no escape. While Megumi was ordering Yahiko about Kaoru grabbed a small stool and sat by Kenshin's bed. "I will hurt you."

"It will hurt no matter who does it. It will be worse if it is not sewn up." He held his arm out for her. "I would do it myself if it was my left arm."

"Oh." Was all she could say as Yahiko pushed a towel into her lap. Megumi handed her a small needle with a brown thread. "What do I do?"

"Make small stitches along the wound and tie each one off. I will tell you where." Kenshin said calmly.

"Megumi, Yahiko?" Kaoru glanced desperately around her. They were gone, fading back into the shadows of the back rooms of the tent and leaving her alone to cope.

Kenshin put his left hand on the wound and pinched the two sides together nearest the elbow. "Start here."

It must hurt dreadfully. Kaoru tried not to think about the living flesh she was driving the needle into as she made knot after knot. Kenshin's calm voice helped her keep the tension just right, the spacing just so. She could feel his muscles twitch with every drive of the needle but he kept his arm as steady as he did when he was holding his sword and his breathing remained calm.

After the first few nerve-wracking stitches her hands steadied and her entire focus was on the next inch of wound, on the correct depth and tension. She kept going with knot after knot until she ran out of wound and she heard Kenshin tell her that it was done and she realized that the whole thing was over.

"You can't faint yet Kaoru." Kenshin said as calmly as if she was sewing a patch on his gi. He reached out with his unhurt arm to steady her as he noticed that she was going very pale in the face. "Wash off the blood and bandage it tightly."

Megumi had left everything she would need there by the bedside. She did as he instructed her and then sat back with a sight. She glanced down at her hands in her lap and saw that they were red with tacky blood all the way to the writs. She held them out in front of her as if they did not belong at the end of her arms.

"Now, wash your hands." Kenshin said patiently.

"Yes…Yes of course." Kaoru couldn't seem to get her thoughts to calm down. She washed her hands with the pink stained water and then reached to pull a blanket over Kenshin. "Rest now, you need to regain some strength." She said automatically, even though she had no clue to what she was talking about.

"No." Kenshin swung his legs over the bed roll and pushed the blanket away. "I need to be seen, I need to speak to Jimni's kin, that I do."

"You are in no fit state!" Kaoru protested as she jumped to her feet and set her hands on his shoulders. She tried to force him back down on the bed but the man was still a wall of solid stone despite the weakness of blood loss and the blow to the head. Kaoru could hardly muster up enough strength to stop him. "I can't be safe to go to them just after you've killed him."

"It was a fair fight, that it was. He challenged me in front of witnesses. There won't be any cause to judge. I will see to it that the needs of his woman as well as the children are met, as well as give them blood money, even though none are due in this circumstance." Kenshin lifted Kaoru's chin with a touch of his fingertips. "I am glad." He said in a kinder tone, his eyes warming to pools of amber.

"About what?"

"That it seems you've chosen to stay."

Kaoru pulled away from Kenshin. "I told you, I was foolish not to run when I had the chance. Why would I want to stay with a man who kidnapped me, who forces me to work for him, who makes me…makes me." Horror ebbed into her voice and caused it to wobble.

"Makes you what, Kaoru?" His hand dropped from her chin and he rested his hands on her shoulders and pulled her to him.

"Who makes me sew up his disgusting wounds!" Kaoru snapped and she leaned into his embrace. He was the one who was hurt but it was Kaoru who hardly had any strength left in her. "I never want to see the insides of anybody for as long as I live. I could see _bone_!"

Kenshin snorted in amusement. "We would all have a hard time standing up without it. Now sit down Kaoru, you've had a shock, that you have." He pressed the nearly limp girl onto the bed she had tried to keep him on. "Rest." He said as he walked to the entrance of the tent. There she watched him pause and rest his hand on the poll of the tent. It was the first sign of weakness she had seen from him. But he squared his shoulders and was gone. Kaoru heard a shout as Kenshin appeared. There were raised voices but they slowly faded away as they followed Kenshin deeper into camp.

_Following a man who had killed three men in the three days I've known him. _Kaoru stared at her hands, half expecting to see blood on them again. _And I stayed with him when I could have ran_. Without thought, Kaoru fell back on the heap of blankets. _But two of those men were murderers and rapists, and Jimni attacked him. What else should he have done? _

Kaoru curled up on the bed. The shivering that had affected her before was returning. She pulled one of the blankets up around her shoulders and inhaled the scent of leather and sword oil, of the tang of soap balls, of masculinity…of Kenshin. _I'm in his bed, I should move before he comes back. I'll just rest a moment and then I'll go down to the river and escape._

… . . …

"Is she still asleep?" Yahiko muttered, staring at Kaoru as she lay huddled under the covers in Kenshin's bed.

"Hush, she's had a shock, that she has." Kenshin murmured. His head was pounding and he felt light-headed in a way that Kenshin knew from experience was from blood loss. He knew the only way to get rid of it was by resting. And his arm ached with a sickening relentlessness that made it hard to focus.

For the past few hours he had been sitting with his people, discussing and justifying, their leader, Aoshi's decisions. Although he secretly disagreed with the idea of going to China, he had to support Aoshi out of loyalty. But now the moon was high and he sent them, still discussing the idea, to their beds.

It would be a long, hard, physical day tomorrow. And that woman was in his bed. Infuriating, she had called him. Kenshin snorted, it was like the pot calling the kettle black, with a vengeance.

But why had she stayed? She could have vanished the moment all the commotion had started. Kaoru didn't lack the courage to escape nor did she lack the intelligence. Kenshin shook his head as the echo of Megumi's words filtered back into his mind. He had been nearly unconscious but he was sure he had heard Megumi's answer to his question to Kaoru. _Why didn't you run?_

_Idiot!_ Megumi had called him. A woman's thing, obviously. Something no mere man could understand.

"Here, I'll wake her up and send her to her own bed." Yahiko said as he stretch out his hand. "She's cold."

"I told you, Shock. How much blood-shed do you think a well-bred geisha woman comes across?" And he had forced her to sew up his bloody wound. Why? Though it seemed like the right thing to do at the time, now he was not so sure and he felt guilty. Was he testing her courage? Testing to see why she didn't run from him? Or was it simply that he wanted to feel her hands on him again.

"Leaver her." he said suddenly, pulling a second blanket over her slender body that seemed so small in his bed. Saitou lumbered up and climbed into the bed and curled up beside her. He blinked up at his master as if saying he approved of the much larger bed.

"Do you want my bed?" Yahiko offered. "I can sleep on the floor."

"You snore, brat." Kenshin smiled as he lightly slapped his cousin on the shoulder. "I need the whole tent between us in order to get peace. I'll take her bed."

It took a bit longer for him to get comfortable in the smaller bed. It was his aching arm that caused most of the trouble. It had nothing to do with the soft scent of a female that crept up from the sheets that surrounded him. Or anything to do with the sight of the small pitiful knick-knacks that Megumi had given her. A comb, a pair of sandals, a small jar of some sort of oil.

Tomorrow as they made their way west, he would leave her at a temple. It was a place of sanctuary and she would be safe and cared for until she got word to her family. And he knew, as he thought of this idea, that he would do no such thing. She was his now, and she would stay. But what she was to him, he could find no answer.

Kenshin curled his left hand around his sword hilt and winced at the pain. It felt wrong handed, unsettling. But perhaps that was because of his strange mood. He had practiced with his other hand before. At least his sword arm didn't get hurt, but his balance was going to be a bit thrown off.

A gentle, bubbling snore on the other side of the tent made him smile. Nothing it seemed, disturbed Yahiko's sleep. The boy had done well today. Kenshin had been aware of him during the fight. Watching, circling, standing up to Jimni's men who were older, stronger and more experienced. He would let the boy use his second sword now. It would be good for him to learn how to use the heavier sword. Planning training sessions for Yahiko was soothing and within minutes his hand relaxed on his hilt and Kenshin drifted off to sleep.

… . …

"Oh!" The exclamation was soft but it woke him, his sword already in hand. It was Kaoru with Saitou at her side. Her hair was tousled and it was obvious she was in the middle of undressing when she stumbled across the tent to her bed space. "I'm sorry; I thought you were still out." She fumbled to keep her clothes on her body. But her hands were sleep heavy and useless.

Kenshin carefully sheathed his sword. "Are you warm now? You were cold before, that you were."

She rubbed her hands up and down her arms having secured her clothing. "I was, I should have brought a second blanket." Her eyes were started to droop, obviously she was still very tired.

Kenshin quickly moved across the small bed and flipped the bed cover back. "Here, get in."

Kaoru was too tired to argue and she climbed in beside him. It caught Kenshin by surprise; he didn't think she would obey him. Then he could see that she was nearly asleep on her feet, and now that she was in her warm bed, she was almost right back asleep and most likely unaware of what was going on. He threw the blanket around her and curled his good arm around her as she shuffled into a comfortable position and tucked herself against his side.

"Kaoru." But she was already asleep, her head heavy on his arm, her bottom pressed against his hip. Kenshin drew in his breath, thankful that he had left his hakama pants on. He had acted on impulse just now, and the consequences found him in bed with an unbelievable temptation. On the other hand, attempting to seduce a well-breed geisha girl with one arm nearly useless was most likely not going to be satisfying for either of them.

He grinned into the darkness, determined to ignore the discomfort of her closeness. Instead he closed his eyes and buried his face into her dark hair. _At least you admitted it_. His mind muttered. _You want her_.

* * *

A/n Not too sure but I think things are going to get interesting in the next chapter. Yes I do. Next up, Kaoru wakes in the arms of Kenshin and moving day! Thanks for reading. Reviews are loved!


	8. Moving Day

A/n I couldn't leave you guys with this cliffie for long. I'm so weak to your pleas (and threats lol) This might be the last chapter for a while. I'm taking a vacation from work and going camping for a week or so. I may be able to squeeze in another chapter before then but don't expect anything until after Aug 20th-ish.

I'm noticing a few people telling me that they stopped reading RK fics and never liked KK parings much, yet this story brought them back and changed their minds. Wow, I must say that I'm happy this story brought you back to the great word of RK fanfics. I try and aim for something different in my work, as I too am tired of the same recycled ideas, (Though I'll be the first to admit that I'm guilty of such charges.) Okay enough of my talking and on to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin.

* * *

Kaoru began to drift up out of sleep and into a warm semi-waking doze. She was snug, comfortable and there was a safe, strong body pressed against her back. Warm breath tickled her temple, stirring her hair. "Saitou, stop it." She grumbled. Something moist touched her ear and she shrugged her shoulder to hide her ear." Bad dog! I want to sleep."

A throaty chuckle brought her fully awake with a gasp. Wolves did not chuckle. Wolves, she realized a little too late, were not long enough to stretch out against the full length of her body. Nor did they have hands to hold her while their lips teased her cheek and neck.

"What are you doing?" Her voice was muffled by her own hair as she turned to look over her shoulder.

"Trying to kiss you." Kenshin voice was husky and amused.

"Don't-" it was half-hearted; the sensation the gentle brush of his mouth was creating was playing havoc with her shyness and good sense. She tried again, stronger this time. "You should not."

"I'm not moving my wounded arm." His words buzzed as his lips had found the soft, thin skin just behind her ear. His day's growth of beard was adding a whole new layer of sensations as the stubble was rubbing against her skin. Kaoru wiggled to get free but froze when she found just how hard and aroused, the long male body she was spooned into had become.

"Never mind your arm! That's not what I meant and you know it." she tried to scold him but she didn't sound very convincing. "You promised me you wouldn't, Aha!-" the fall of his blood-red hair across her skin was like the caress of a million feathers.

"I promised I wouldn't ravish you. Do I appear to be ravishing you?"

"Seducing then." He was certainly doing that. Why should the nip of his teeth on her earlobe have her biting back a moan? She had never had a man do such things to her. Even the one who won her virginity didn't do such things. She gasped as he gently took the bit of flesh from her ear into his warm mouth and suckled it.

Reluctantly he let go of her ear. "I didn't say I wasn't going to seduce you, that I did not." His eyes swarmed with amber…assassin eyes.

"I'm like a virgin." She said as much to remind herself of her lack of knowledge and to shame him as well.

"I'm not." Kenshin's right hand began to stroke over her breast and she could feel the heat of his touch through the thin material she was wearing. And to her mortification, she could feel the nipple harden instantly under his palm.

"I can tell." She snapped, even though her voice shook.

"Good." She could feel his smile against her skin. He turned her so that she was on her back and he propped himself up on his good elbow so that he could look down at her. "Just what do you expect me to do when I wake to find a woman in my bed? My woman even?" he started to kiss her shoulder and exposed collarbone.

"This is my bed." she protested weakly. She had to fight to keep herself from reaching up and pulling him so that she could feel the weight of his body on hers. The smell of him, strong, aroused masculinity was tormenting and overwhelming her senses.

"I was here when you got into it." He said between kisses. "You were in mine first, where was I to go?"

"Stop teasi-" his mouth silenced her words. Sliding with sleepy sensuality from side to side while his tongue worried the join of her lips. He wanted her to open her mouth and let him invade her like he did in that hot, furious encounter in the bath tub. Well she would not, not this time. Kaoru clamped her lips together and tried to ignore her body. She wanted to open her lips for him, she wanted him to touch her everywhere, to move his body weight over her and take her.

Oh but it was so hard to resist; so hard to fight something she wanted more than anything. Anything-that is, except the small spark of pride and resistance and the fear that if she gave in to him just once, she would go down like dried grass before a fire.

Kaoru reached up and wove her fingers into a mass of his red hair that fell around them and tugged. She wanted to stroke his mane instead. She wanted to fist her hands in his hair and drag his lips all over her neck and breasts. But she pulled and kept pulling until Kenshin relented.

Swirling, hot, yet amused amber eyes gazed down at her as he freed her mouth. Kaoru tried to project anger but knew that all she could muster up was helpless yearning.

"You want me to stop?" he asked, sounding surprised but still amused.

"Yes." And in an instant he rolled onto his back, and Kaoru fought off a shiver that came will the chill air that replaced him. "Besides anything else." She hissed, "Yahiko is asleep just on the other side of the tent."

"I was kissing you very quietly." Kenshin pointed out. "Just kissing."

"And that was all you were going to do?" Kaoru asked suspiciously.

"Yes." He said simply, sitting up and giving Kaoru a magnificent view of his naked torso. Kaoru swallowed, being this close, and without her eyes clouded by anger or fear, she could see every detail of him. She could see the lean hard muscle under his skin, the discoloration of old wounds, raised fresh scars and new burses. She clenched her hands into fists to keep from reaching out to touch him. As he stood and the blanket fell away from his body, Kaoru slapped her hands over her eyes. As much as she desired Kenshin right then, the thought of seeing a man naked was still something she feared greatly. After a moment, however she peeked through her fingers. She was glad to see that he was wearing his pants and was decent from the waist down. She dropped her hands from her face.

"Why?"

"Why what?" he asked as he bent forward to pick up his sword. He had left it on the other side of the bed when Kaoru had crawled in to join him hours ago. She could see the muscles in his face twitch and sweat instantly started to bead on his brow as his wounded muscles tightened from the movement.

"Why were you kissing me? And don't do that!" She scolded, seeing the flash of pain on his face as he set his sword to his hip once more. "You'll burst the stitching or make it bleed or something."

"I was kissing you because you are mine." He said with an arrogance that never failed to take her breath away. "And one day you will not want me to stop. We'll just have to find that day." He paused, his swirling eyes calming. "And you're right. It's too soon to use this arm, that it is." He stepped away and reached out with his good arm to move the curtain back. He turned and glanced at her over his shoulder as she sat up from the bed. Her face was rosy with desire, anger and shame. "Get up Kamiya Kaoru. We have a long day today."

… . ….

She was still in turmoil when she joined Megumi outside to help make a thick pudding-like meal out of rice and oats. The women around them declared it was just what they would need to give them enough strength to help the men today.

"What's the matter?" Megumi asked as they tended their pot. "Add the milk now- yes that's enough."

"That man is the most infuriating, arrogant, high-handed-" it was easy to rant about Kenshin than to wonder if she was not, in part, to blame for what had happened. She glared over at their tent where Kenshin was packing.

Megumi's brows knitted together. "Is his arm giving him pain?" she asked as she added dried berries and nuts to the pot. Around them the camp was like a disturbed ant's nest. People, many still rubbing the sleep from their eyes, were loading carts, untying tent ropes, and herding protesting animals.

"Yes, even though he won't say so." Kaoru glanced a the goat she had to tie up away from the cooking pot and had a sinking feeling that learning to milk it was the next thing on Megumi's list of skills she must learn.

"He is in a temper?" Megumi didn't seem surprised at the idea.

"Oh no, it isn't just that-" Kaoru suddenly realized where the conversation was heading and she snapped her mouth shut, her face flooding red.

"Oh Ho!" Megumi's surprise laugh was like a bark. "So he's wanting to.." She raised her eyebrows while making an explicit sign with her hands because two of her young brood had wandered into earshot.

"Make love." Kaoru shook her head and corrected herself as the children darted off. "You mean have sex? Yes."

"Don't you want to? Kenshin is a very attractive man." Megumi added with all the impartiality of a happily married woman.

"Yes I do, yes he is and no I'm not going to give in to him." Kaoru said emphatically.

"Another man would force you." Megumi said as she stirred the pot. "You are his to do with what he wants with." She motioned for her to set a nearby bucket of water near the goat.

"If he were that sort of man, then I wouldn't want him, so all I would have to worry about is where to find the knife to kill him with." Kaoru banged the bucket down in front of the goat, splashing water all over and causing the animal to back away with a wild look in her strange yellow eyes.

Megumi gave a gasp of laughter, and then her face quickly became expressionless. Kaoru turned to see what she was looking at and found herself almost face to face with a beautiful woman only scant shorter than her and near her age. Unlike many of the women in the camp, she was not wearing a simple Kimono, but hakama pants and a gi like the men, and unlike most, including Kaoru, her clothes were made of fine linen and stitched with graceful needlework. A gold and blue-green jade comb graced her raven black hair. Tiny gold chains hung from the comb, dangling more jade at the side of her face, near her intense dark eyes. More jewelry graced her wrists in the form of bracelets and about her neck.

She looked down her delicate nose to Megumi at the fire pit. "Megumi." She greeted "How are you? Expecting your newest child soon?" She asked and then glanced back to Kaoru as Megumi was answering; showing she hardly cared about what the other woman had to say.

Curious and slightly put off by this newcomer who didn't seem to care about Megumi's health whatsoever, Kaoru untied the goat and lead it firmly-and unnecessarily through the gap between the women. The stranger jerked backwards with a glare.

"Who is this? A new friend?"

"This is Kaoru, of Kenshin's house." Megumi said, never giving up full attention from the pot, its contents slowly growing thicker.

"A new slave? Is she any good?" She looked Kaoru up and down like prospecting livestock.

"At cooking," Megumi pursed her lips. "No." There was such a wealth of meaning in her expression that Kaoru felt herself go scarlet. "That's not why Kenshin took her."

The other woman swept Kaoru with a furious look and turned on her heal.

"Megumi!" Kaoru hissed as the woman vanished in the rushing crowd. " How could you! She thinks that I'm his…his…"

"She thinks you are where _she_ wants to be, in his bed. That's Yukishiro Tomoe, Daughter of Lord Yukishiro. Her father wants Kenshin as a son. Tomoe just wants Kenshin."

"To marry? Would he? She doesn't seem very pleasant." She glanced over to where she disappeared.

"Oh, yes, he would marry her. He would have already, I suspect, if he didn't have so many other things to think about. She would bring the allegiance of many men to his side and she is strong, fit to be a leader's wife. Don't let her slight form fool you, she's a hellcat. She is beautiful as well, obviously a plus for most men."

"But you don't like her?"

The way Megumi banged her spoon on the edge of the pot was a sufficient answer. "She thinks I'm below her. The only reason she talks to me is because my little brother serves his cousin. Therefore Kenshin and I are distant relatives."

"She's my enemy now that you've said those things to her." Kaoru led the confused goat back and tied it up. Things could get very complicated very fast with a woman like that thinking she was all that stood between her and her goal.

"And you are hers, that is more important. You've been forewarned. Do you want her as a mistress?"

"No!" Kaoru could only imagine. It was bad enough being Kenshin's slave, she didn't want to think how it would be like to her Tomoe's. _And I don't want her as Kenshin's wife either._ But a sudden thought struck her."Does he love her?"

"He hardly knows her. And it's his duty to marry well for his kin and for his allies. Love is not in this decision."

"But you're telling me I can stop the marriage-that I should stop it?" If it was so important to the structure of these people…It was just another reason she had to leave.

Megumi got a distant and secretive look in her eyes. "Sometimes it is necessary to see a long way forward. Not everything is what it seems at this moment." Megumi was now looking into the pot like an oracle reading the entrails of a sacrifice. She raised her head then and caught Kaoru's questioning gaze and held it. "You won't leave now." She said in an almost dull voice, as if speaking from the future. "You won't run."

"I will!" The promise was startled out of Kaoru before she had the wit to keep quiet. "How would you like to find yourself a slave of my city. Wouldn't you try and escape back to your home and family?"

"Not having heard what your people do to runaways, no." Megumi said dryly. "You don't like being Kenshin's, but if you run away, he will not hurt you…only bring you back." Megumi reached for bowls and began to ladle the rice and oat porridge. "Call the men, breakfast is ready." Megumi paused for a second. "Have you seen any slaves mistreated while you've been amongst us?"

"I haven't seen any slaves." Kaoru took the bowls and began to set them out. Yahiko had already loaded most of their things into a cart so they were sharing Megumi's table.

"That's because you can't tell the difference by looking. Slaves belong to families, and therefore are part of the family. Everyone had duties, not just the slaves."

Kenshin had been furious with her because she didn't know the little girl's name that died at her side during the raid, Kaoru remembered. It had seem strange then; now she began to understand. Once you were in the household of these barbarians, however you got there, everyone had a responsibility towards you, just as you had duties to them. She had felt lonely all the time at home in the geisha house. Here she had never felt that sense of distance or the chill of her parents house when she was allowed rare visits.

The secret engagement her parents had set up for her gave Kaoru hope. Hope to feel a sense of belonging, for being valued for who she was not because of the artistic skills she possessed. Now she wondered.

"Where are they?" Megumi fisted her hands on her hips as she stood and looked around. Her own children were already started to settle quietly at the table. "Yahiko! Come eat!" She nudged Kaoru. "Go ahead and eat before it gets cold." She caught a glance of Kaoru's expression. "What are you thinking about?"

"The man I'm suppose to marry." Kaoru picked up her chopsticks and attacked the sticky meal, suddenly ravenous.

Megumi looked surprised. "Ah, And what is he like?"

"He's a senator. Thirty years old. A prosperous man with influence with the Emperor." And at over ten years her senior, there was no love whatsoever. The match had been made by her family without her Geisha mother knowing. She would marry this stranger out of loyalty to her family.

"You're not attracted to him, are you?"

"Megumi! Love is not in this decision." She said, mirroring her own words from earlier.

Megumi smiled and nodded her head in the direction of the tent where Kenshin was walking to meet them, Yahiko at his heels. "He's not…" She gestured with her hands at Kenshin. Although she didn't say anything Kaoru could read the simple hand gesture Megumi had used. It conveyed power, strength, and somehow, sex.

"No, no he isn't." Kaoru agreed ruefully. She couldn't help but smother girlish giggles as Megumi gave her a knowing smile.

"What are you two women talking about?" Kenshin asked as he sat by the table.

"Men." Megumi said. "And how they are never on time for things when they are wanted." She set a bowl in front of Kenshin. "Eat; this is the last hot meal you'll get all day."

… . . …

They ate, and then they packed. Kaoru folded textiles, and nestled dishes and cooking utensils into wooden boxes of straw. She then would lug them to the front of the tent for Yahiko to drag out. It seemed as though Kenshin hadn't been lying about the glassware and chests of gold and silver. As the tent emptied, and the two ox carts grew more and more laden with things, two men helped carry multiple locked chests with great care and loaded them into the center of the front cart.

"Where's all that gold you took?" Kaoru asked, half joking as she paused for a rest, rubbing her forearm across her sweaty face.

"Where I can find it." Kenshin answered, his eyes narrowing as he looked at her. He was holding a bundle of arrows in one arm; his hurt arm was resting in a belt as a last minute makeshift sling. "Why? Are you thinking of running off with a bag of it?"

Kaoru pursed her lips and shrugged, aiming for maximum insolence. She had no plan on taking anything, but she did plan on slipping off the back of the cart as close to the city as possible. There would be throngs of people and animals. She would disappear instantly and in the mish-mash of scents, even Saitou would have a hard time tracking her down.

The wolf was standing outside the tent, his tail waging slowly back and forth as he eyed the oxen through silted yellow eyes. Kaoru had never seen him so much as lift a lip towards the goats and chickens that were everywhere in the camp; perhaps he regarded oxen as outside the prohibition on killing livestock.

"Fool of a wolf." Kenshin grinned at him. "They are too big for you. Go and guard." For a moment Kaoru feared he meant to guard her, but the wolf sprang into the front cart and lay along the wide seat that served as a perch for the driver.

_Ah, so that's where the gold is. _Not that it was any concern of hers, all she needed was to concentrate on getting away while she still had some peace of mind left. But she was beginning to fear that peace of mind was not what she truly craved and what she wanted was to throw pride and duty and all the years of her upbringing to the winds to be with this man.

Kenshin was leaning against the cart, laughing at something Sanosuke had said to him. His head was thrown back so she could see the tendons of his throat, the hard strapping muscle of his neck. His stance shouted of power, arrogance, and confidence, but his eyes were full of humor and as she watched, he stooped quickly to pick up a toddler who was intent on making his escape from Megumi.

_Children trust him_, she thought, recalling the small boy he had lifted onto his horse that first day. _Yahiko would die for him; hundreds of men will follow him to the ends of the earth._ She saw the flickering sideways looks that virtually every woman who passed gave him and the broad smiled that even Megumi gave as she came to take the child from his arms. _And he wants me…as a slave to warm his bed, and cook his food and stitch his clothes or his wounds. He will protect me and give me pleasure-and that other woman will marry him_.

"What are you thinking about, Kaoru?" he had turned from the cart and was watching her, the laughter still in his eyes, and her heart contracted.

"I was thinking it was time to be going." She said steadily.

"Hai." He looked up at the sky. "The sun is climbing, that it is. Another hour and we must be gone."

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A/n Wah! It's moving day! Next chapter: the start of some massive traveling. Though I think I will shorten it a little. Days of traveling can only be so exciting to read about, right? Oh and for the record: I am not a Tomoe basher. I like Tomoe; she's just an easy target to pick for the "other woman" in Kenshin's life. She won't be as bad as you think. I can't seem to make Tomoe really evil, it just isn't her. Anyways, not so much of a cliffy to leave you with, which is good, being that there is no internet 35 miles up a mountain. I will try and update right before I leave, but only if the chapter is ready. Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are loved!


	9. Revelation

A/n Woo! I can't believe I was able to get this chapter done in time. I head off to my trip tomorrow and instead of packing…I'm working on this, lol. It's my birthday today; the coolest thing I got was a Vampire Hunting kit from a friend. It has all kinds of hunting goodies in it and I love it. My boyfriend got me the box set of Sookie Stackhouse books. Now I can finally read these strangely popular books and see what's up with them. These are the books that HBO True Blood show is based off of. (never seen it by the way)

So enough about me, I haveta go pack.

Disclaimer. I own nothing.

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The carts were loaded at last, the tents were strapped over them to protect the contents inside, and the oxen were turned to the South-West. All around small boys were herding goats and sheep, the older ones mustering the spare horses while mounted guards rode out on the flanks. Somewhere up at the head of the column was the leader, the king. Aoshi, his household and the emperor's captive sister. What was she thinking now? She did not even have the distraction of loading wagons and chasing errant goats.

Kaoru reached up to climb into the back of the second of Kenshin's wagons, then gasped as he caught her around the waist and steered her to the front of the first wagon.

"Up you go." His hand on the small of her back moved to give her a firm boost under one buttock as she scrambled up onto the high seat of the wagon. "Here take the reins."

"I can't drive!" she protested, trying to ignore the sensations that his fingers had branded their impression on her behind.

"Of course you can, there's nothing to it. Just follow the cart in front. Yahiko is right behind you, driving the second one."

And he was, of course, right behind her where he couldn't fail to notice is she left the cart. And as the driver, her absence would be noticed by everyone around them. Kenshin put the reins in her hands. "Here, you don't have to do anything unless they start to veer off the road." Kaoru snatched the reins and shuffled the heavy leather between her fingers.

"You…" Kaoru bit her lip to catch back the angry words that were building. He had guessed what her plan would be and had acted, without fuss, to check her. What could she say?

It was clear that Kenshin could read her thoughts quite easily. "Know your opponent, Kamiya Kaoru. It always pays to imagine what you would do yourself if you found yourself in their shoes, that it does." He added with what seemed to her to be the typical male smugness.

"Really?" Kaoru snapped back. "Your imagination runs to being the female sex slave of a barbarian kidnapper, does it?" She didn't want to leave him, but she knew she must. The fact that he was frustrating her every effort to do what, in the long run, would be better for both of them made her furious. Did he really want her around when he brought home the imperious Tomoe?

She expected to shock him perhaps, or to anger him. What she didn't expect was for him to burst out laughing. "Sex slave?" He grinned up at her as she sat fuming on the high seat. "I'm sure you can't begin to understand the images that _that _brings to mind."

"Oh, you jerk!" Kaoru reached for the long iron-tipped goad that was the equivalent to a whip for the oxen, but Kenshin had already vaulted into the saddle of his ugly grey horse and was riding off, chuckling.

Kaoru wondered what kind of images he was taking about. The problem was, the more she thought about it the more arousing it became, even with her very limited experience of such sensual matters. Fantasies of chains made of light shiny metals-skimpy silken garments. Of Kenshin stretched out on a padded sofa, watching her under hooded lids as she prepared to massage oil into his naked body. These images chased their way across her imagination until her breaths came in short gasps. She was suddenly very aware of her body under the linen garments-the heaviness on her breasts and the feel of the rough fabric against her nipples.

There was a lurch. Kaoru snapped from her erotic trance with a start and grabbed at the reins as the oxen, not waiting for her, began to plod along behind the cart in front of them. _Oh goodness, is Kenshin thinking about things like that too? Maybe not, nothing so naïve. I bet he thinks of things so shocking I would faint if he told me…perhaps he would show me…_Kaoru gave herself a sharp and painful pinch on the wrist. _Stop it! This is wrong, so wrong. You don't belong here, you should not want him, let alone think about him like this._

But it seemed that her only hope of escape now was the force of four thousand sent by the Empire, and if they came, then many of these people, people she was already beginning to like and admire, would die. They had been promised land, Kaoru thought to herself as the mass of humanity moved like a creeping tide across the grassland. No one on either side denied this fact, so why wasn't the land given to them?

She racked her brains, trying to remember the conversations she had dismissed as boring and irrelevant only weeks before. The men seemed serious; breaking this promise was justifiable because it was not in the interest of the city. She and the other geisha girls only nodded their heads and smiled at the male's sensibility.

Now she was nearly seething at such conclusions their one-sided and greedy thinking had caused. One of the oxen stumbled, brining her attention back to what she was supposed to be doing. "Oh, get up, you clumsy animal." She snapped her mouth shut as she heard herself. It seemed she did nothing but lose her temper these days-at Kenshin, at the leaders of her city, at the oxen. Or was it simply that she felt everything more intensely since she had seen the dangerous man stride out of the drifting smoke to turn her life upside-down. She felt anger and injustice and fear and passion and deeply conflicting loyalties, all with a fierceness she had never experienced before because of so many years of stamping herself into the perfect female mold. _When I get home,_ she thought, sitting up straighter and making herself pay attention to her surroundings, _when I get-where has it gone?_

The craned around, desperate, and realized that as she had brooded they had passed out of sight of the city, out of sight of the walls. All the familiar trees and even the small river that passed by, all the landmarks had disappeared in the slowly increasing distance. The vague certainty that sooner or later she would be rescued faded and was gone. Kaoru stared unseeing between the horns of the oxen. She could not deceive herself any longer. She was entirely in the power of a man who was as alien as the stars to her. And all he wanted from her was obedience, sex and food.

… . . …

_Sex slave! _Kenshin kept chuckling to himself as he wove in and out of the wagons, checking who was where, making sure everyone had sound beasts, then riding out to the flanks. Trouble was coming-they were moving too slowly for it not to catch them sooner or later. He did not think it would come yet, but they could not afford to let their guard drop. That was just a fact of life; one they had all lived with for years.

He spent an hour checking, forcing himself to concentrate on every detail while his mind wanted to wander off and play with lurid images conjured up by Kaoru's outburst. They simply would not go away and were uncomfortably distracting, if enjoyable.

He found his way back to Yahiko's wagon, hitched his horse on behind and climbed up to sit beside him. "Water?"

"Just behind me. I'll have some as well." They sat in companionable silence, handing the flask back and forth. Yahiko was watching the passing scene with interest and an alertness that Kenshin knew he should be sharing, instead of gazing at Kaoru's head and shoulders that were all that was visible of her over the heaped contents of the wagon.

Sex slave indeed…She was just so desirable, and so innocently unaware of how provocative she was. Kaoru appeared to expect the worst of his motives-which was understandable, considering the circumstances in which he had found her, and the fact that he had snatched her away. But she also appeared to have realized that he was not going to force her.

What she did not realize was that her own untutored body was on his side. Her reactions to his caresses spoke of a deeply passionate nature that the chilly standards of a Geisha household had repressed. She certainly did not appear to be pining for her senator.

Kenshin's lip curled as he imagined a pompous, middle-aged, kimono-clad type. He would meditate religiously everyday to prepare his mind and soul for the next world, of course, but he would expect his wife to be as disciplined as himself in dress, demeanor and manners. What would be better than an ex-geisha woman who was shaped for such a life from childhood? What would he make of the Kaoru who launched a furious, sensual assault on her tormentor in a bathtub or who gritted her teeth as she sewed up a savage wound despite her churning stomach, or who sat in the sun rubbing the belly of a wolf while she combed his coat.

"Kenshin?" Yahiko appeared to have been talking for several minutes. Kenshin jerked himself back from his daydream. "You said we were going South-west to get to China-where? Is it a long journey?"

"To a city called Osaka, about twenty-five to thirty days walk away, unless we're held up." Yahiko's eyes narrowed and Kenshin could see that he understood that 'held up' meant a battle. "Otherwise the scouts we send ahead should have ships ready outside the city, that they should."

"Ships? So we have to cross a great river then?"

Kenshin shook his head. "There is a sea. Didn't you know that China is on the other side of the East Sea?"

Yahiko shook his head. He had never seen the sea, and he could hardly imagine what it would look like. Kenshin had seen it once, but had never been on it and he wasn't sure that he wanted to start now. Still, if that was the only way they could get to the land of so much fertile ground, then so be it.

"Does Kaoru know?"

"I think so." Kenshin answered.

"She didn't seem very worried." Yahiko said, sounding resentful that this woman had no fear for the mysterious force that had him shaking on the inside.

"I don't think she was still expecting to be with us when we got there, that I don't" Kenshin said wryly as his eyes returned to the dark head before him.

…. . . …

It took fifteen days to reach Nagoya. The city sat against the water front. Though the body of water looked like a large lake surrounded by land, it in fact stretched out into the sea, but this was a place for fishing and no ships of a large enough size could be found here. By the time they reached the costal city, Kaoru felt as though she had lived no other way of life other than this one. Up at sunrise, loading their overnight things back into the wagon after having their simple breakfast, their slow lumbering pace for a few hours, having a lunch of simple bread and cheese while on the move and then more traveling before the evening camp was set up.

It was curiously enjoyable. She had given up all plans of escape while they moved, for her place on the wagon had effectively chained her in full view as Kenshin had intended. Instead, the very absence of freedom was relaxing. There was nothing she could do, so she could watch the unfolding scenery, spend minutes gazing up at a wheeling bird of prey or look at the river glittering in the sun.

People began to move from wagon to wagon, sitting for a while at each to gossip. Megumi joined her now and again, bringing friends, and patiently trying to teach her domestic duties as well as medical advice.

Yahiko she saw only in camp, Kenshin hardly at all except as an ever-present beacon in the mass of travelers. Tall on his horse, his crimson hair like a banner, he seemed tireless, riding the boundaries of the group, helping stragglers, talking to the outriders and vanishing over the hills ahead of the group and then returning with the other riders gathering around him.

He was using both hands on the reins again, she noticed, wishing he would let her dress his wound again, check that there was no infection. In the evening he would join them, help Yahiko pull the tent out from the wagon on to poles to make a shelter, return for the evening meal and then ride out again. Kaoru supposed he slept, but she did not know where or when, for he was dressed and ready by the time she was sleepily heating the water in the morning.

After six days she cornered Yahiko. "Why is Kenshin ignoring me?"

He squinted at her against the rising sunlight. "He isn't, he's busy. Why, is there something you want to know?"

"No, not exactly. It's just…" _Just what? I expect him to be trying to seduce me, to be stopping by for long friendly chats. You're an idiot Kamiya Kaoru_.

Yahiko shrugged, mumbling through a mouthful of sliced meat. "Don't know what you're fussing about then." He shifted, looking slightly embarrassed. "Did you know we've got to go in boats, across the sea?"

"Yes of course. Didn't you?" She put down the knife she was using to cut more meat with and regarded him with some amusement. Yahiko was considerably less cocksure all of a sudden.

"Er, no. Have you ever been on the sea?"

She nodded. Costal voyages for short distances only, but she was not going to admit that.

"What was it like?"

"Huge, wet water as far as you can see to the horizon and beyond. And waves. Great big ones" She plunged her hand into the water bucket to demonstrate. "The ship goes up and down and side to side and you have to learn to balance."

Yahiko was following her hand and going slightly green just thinking about it. But she stopped teasing him, conscious that, for all her nonchalance, she was not looking forward to being out of sight of land either. All the more reason to escape before it came to it.

… . . …

A few days later she was brooding on that exchange when the lead wagons began to pull up. All around her, people were reining in, men jumping down, pulling weapons from under the wagon covers, mounting up.

"What is it?" Koru stood up and turned around, calling down to Yahiko, who was leading his team alongside hers.

"We go to take Nagoya. Here." He thrust up the reins into her hands. "You'll have the camp by yourself. And get the medical kit out."

"I…why? When will you be back?"

Yahiko was already swinging up onto his horse, Kenshin's extra sword tied to the saddle and his own sword at his hip. "When we've taken it, of course." And then he was gone, leaving her staring after him.

Kenshin? Where was he? He had gone without saying goodbye and he might never come back. _But why should he bother? I'm not anything important to him; I'm just a slave he doesn't even talk to anymore_.

Kaoru sat down with a bump. For the first time since he had taken her, tears filled her eyes and fell unchecked. When Megumi found her, she was crouched on the seat, head in hands, a huddle of damp misery with two lots of reins tangled around her feet and the oxen, heads down, cropping grass amidst the organized chaos of making camp.

"Kaoru! What is it?" Megumi climbed up awkwardly, sat down next to her and gathered her in her arms. The warm, maternal affection made it worse. Kaoru sobbed harder. "He is coming back. He always comes back." Megumi patted her back.

"He didn't say goodbye." Kaoru emerged, scrubbing her hand across her wet face, awkwardly aware that she was making an exhibition of herself. "He had hardly said a word to me for days." It was embarrassing that Megumi had known unerringly what the crying was about.

"Tsk." Megumi clicked her tongue. "You have to get used to that. He is a warrior; he has other things to think about at the moment. Now come, jump down and wash your face and we will help each other set camp."

… . . …

The men returned by nightfall the next day. Captured pack ponies and wagons behind them. The women fell on their menfolk to check for wounds and then on the food in the carts. The guards who had been left behind gathered around their comrades, demanding details and receiving there share of the plunder.

But there was no sign of either Kenshin or Yahiko; the crowd was too thick to get through and her pitiful few calls for them vanished entirely in the noise. Then, just when she thought she would collapse with tension and uncertainty, Kenshin strolled out of the crowd, leading his horse and followed by Yahiko. Neither of them appeared to have so much as a scratch on them. Both were filthy with sweat, dust and soot, their hair wild, dirty and tangled, and to Kaoru's wrathful eye, both seemed indecently pleased with themselves.

"At last!" she stormed the moment they were within earshot. "Everyone has been back an hour and now you condescend to put in an appearance. I suppose you want hot water and food? Well, there isn't any. I assumed you were both dead and wouldn't be needing it."

She flung down the dead chickens she had half plucked and mangled in her distracted state and fled round the back of the wagon.

Behind her she heard Yahiko's voice raised in mystified annoyance. "What's the matter with her? You'd think we had lost."

Kenshin answered. "There is a great deal you must learn about women, Yahiko, not least that the more worried they are about you, the louder they shout at you and the harder they beat you when they know you are safe, that they do."

He was coming around the back of the wagon now, and there was nothing she could do about it, short of fleeing through the camp making a spectacle of herself.

"Are you going to beat me? He asked. Kaoru kept her back turned and shrugged.

"You aren't worth it.. I wasn't worried, just annoyed that I did not know what was going on. And…and your stupid arm probably hasn't healed and you wouldn't be able to fight properly and you'd get yourself killed and then what would happen to me…but that aside, why should I be upset?"

Kenshin didn't answer her, he simply put his hands on her shoulders, cupping the narrow bones with the hard framework of his fingers, and turned her against his chest.

"I don't know why you had to go and attack the town anyways; it's just a fishing town. Can't we simply go around it?" He smelled just as bad as he looked, he was probably making her simple gi filthy and her face was pressed uncomfortably against wooden armor. But she wrapped her arms around as much of his torso as she could manage and clung harder.

"We needed food and we had to make sure there was no garrison there that could swing round and attack the group from behind." He explained patiently.

"There was no gold, I suppose?" Kaoru said, attempting to maintain her anger. She could feel him slowly relaxing from the battle. She could almost hear his heart beat, steady and calm while hers was going wild with what had to be relief and reaction to his return.

"Some, my disapproving Geisha."

Kaoru pulled away from his chest, tipping her head back to look up into his face. From this angle his lashes were long, shuttering his expression, making him seem more serious then his jesting tone implied.

"Was anyone hurt?" She bit her lip. "I want the truth and about your arm."

"We lost five men, perhaps twenty are wounded, though not very badly. And you can look at my arm if you wish, that you may."

"Who had been looking after it?" Kaoru demanded as Kenshin leaned against the wagon. He untied his wooden and bamboo arm cover and pushed up his sleeve. The bandage he began to unknot was not the original one…she was glad to see that…but it was filthy and stained.

"Yahiko. It's not very nice to look at while it heals, that it is not." He said as he started to unwind the cloth.

"It was not at all nice when you made me stitch it. Let me."

The last layer had stuck to the wound. she had to soak off the cloth in the end, horrified at how the wound looked. "Where are the stitches?" she asked after running to find fresh linen rags. She began to swab it clean.

"I cut them once it started healing, otherwise they pull." He put one finger under her chin and tipped up her face. "Are you crying?" he asked, almost startled. His dark eyes suddenly flying open in surprise.

"No, My eyes are watering with the smoke. Oh fine, yes alright. I'm trying not to cry, if you have to know. I don't like people I…"

"People you what, Kaoru?" Kenshin asked as she was silent for a very long moment.

_Oh, I love him. Why didn't I realize that before?_ "I don't like people I know being hurt." She jerked her head away and bent over the wound again. "There, that's better. Just keep it still and I'll get some of Megumi's salve."

Kaoru hurried off, thankful for the excuse. She had nearly told Kenshin she loved him, almost blurted it out before she had known it herself. He would be kind about it, of course, she knew him well enough now to know that. But she had not the slightest doubt that he would use that knowledge ruthlessly to seduce her. He already regarded her as his property—she almost handed him the lock and key to the door.

And her head was spinning with what she had found out about herself, what it would mean. _Nothing but trouble, nothing but pain, oh, but I love you…_

_

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a/n So Kaoru has finally admitted to herself that she loves Kenshin. Things can only get rough from here. More info than anything in this chapter, bit more action in the next one. I swear. I hope to come back and find my inbox crammed with reviews hehe for they are loved. Thanks for reading everyone!


	10. Out for a Walk

A/n Hi everyone. Sorry I took forever to get to this story And when I do I just have this short chapter to offer you. I hope to make it up to you. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I feel bad for making you wait so long.  
About ooc with Kenshin: I never wrote this story to be posted on . I wrote it as a exercise to help with my writers block. I never meant for Kenshin to be very in character. Also he is more like Battousai most of the time, and we really have no clue how he was in everyday life as Battousai. Anyways, I'm sure it's very late to say this but if OOC bothers you, this might not be the story for you. though, many tell me that Kenshin is in perfect character. oro, so I guess it's just depends on how you see him.

With that said…I don't own anything.

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As Kenshin had seemed to distance himself from her on the journey, now Kaoru tried to keep her distance from him. The violence of her anxiety when she knew he was fighting had shaken her into acknowledging her feelings, but she had not realized love would be like this. That it would make her berate him like a fishwife out of sheer relief that he was safe or that it could tie her tongue and drive a run-away horse and cart through her wits. And she had no idea how to hide how she felt from him.

Megumi had guessed, but she didn't tease Kaoru when the men were near enough to hear. Kaoru wished she could confide in her, but she hardly knew herself just what it was she feared or what she might expect, or hope for, in her future.

She was more prepared when the men rode out to take a second town, and they were gone for a shorter period of time. Kenshin sent Yahiko back directly to the wagon to tell her they were safe. Although she hid her relief by telling him that he had only been so thoughtful because he wanted her to start cooking the evening meal so that it would be ready by the time he got back.

So another town had fallen, filling the larders, and making the axels of the treasure wagons creak. Satisfied he had covered their rear, Aoshi; the leader, swung his followers towards Tsu and the other side of the great bay.

Many days past before they reached the town. Aoshi had subdued Tsu and tried to force the surrender of the ships that clustered the bay, enough to ship even his great army of barbarians across the sea. But the town held out stubbornly behind its thick walls. Supplied by sea, it could not be starved into submission, and two weeks later, Kaoru found she was still looking out over the same wide, beautiful azure bay-from the shore.

… . . …

Kenshin climbed back to level ground where the encampment lay. Behind him the besiegers were breaking camp, following Aoshi's order to abandon the attempt of the fishing town. He rolled his shoulders, glad of the chance to move again after two hours of tense council. Aoshi had decided to press on south to Osaka. Some opposed, wanting to turn back. Kenshin, opposed from the start to march south, had been torn. They had gone too far, beyond the point of no return. To have come south in the first place had been an error; to go back would be to march into the teeth of an army. Today he had thrown his weight behind Aoshi and was in no cheerful mood as a result.

"We pack and move tomorrow." He threw at Yahiko as he strode to the wagon and pulled a bottle of sake from the back. It was good stuff, too good to be gulped down like water, but it answered his need. He glanced about the camp. "Where's Kaoru?"

The boy paused. "I don't know. I haven't seen her since early." Yahiko peered as though she might be hiding behind the wagon. Saitou lay in the shade, his tail stirring the dust in greeting. "Perhaps she's with Megumi."

"Then go and check." The boy bolted and Kenshin hunkered down alongside the wolf and resisted the temptation to scratch his healing wound, which was itching like the devil as the new skin grew. The wolf whined and got to his feet as Yahiko ran back.

"Megumi hasn't seen her all day." He panted. "And I haven't seen her since breakfast."

"And it's now mid-afternoon." Kenshin got to his feet, his heart suddenly erratic. "Are there any horses missing?"

"There's been no cry put up, the horse lines are all quiet."

"Then she's on foot." With perhaps six hours head start. She was light on her feet, toughened by weeks on the road; she could have covered two leagues by now. _I could let her go, back to her own people_. He gripped the side of the wagon and dropped his head as he wrestled with the thought. _Or she could be hurt, a twisted ankle or worse. Or she could have fallen into the hands of some man-not everyone in the area is going to treat her like a gentle cage bird, especially not dressed from head to foot like a barbarian woman_. The idea struck something akin to true fear in his heart.

"Saitou! Find Kaoru! Go seek." The wolf lowered his nose to the ground and began to circle. "Yahiko, stand still, let him work. When he picks up the trail I will follow. You pack up. If we aren't back when it's time to leave, get one of the other boys to drive the second wagon and go with everyone else, we will catch up, that we will."

"If you don't find her?" Yahiko's face betrayed an anxiety he had never allowed himself to show about Kaoru before. "She is only a girl; I don't think she's even been out in the country-side all by herself before." His hands balled into fists at his side.

"I will find her." Kenshin whistled and the big grey horse walked from under the shade of a tree. He unhooked the heavy saddle bags and extra swords from the horse and handed them to Yahiko. He unsheathed his sword to have it ready. Smoke stopped, raised his head and then began to head up the slope. Kenshin mounted and urged the horse after him.

"Good luck!' Yahiko called, and he nodded his head in acknowledgement, forcing his mind into calm as he followed the grey shadow into the scrub. Kaoru needed him, whether she realized it yet or not, and he was going to find her. He had to find her, he would search the area for days if he had to…moving day be damned.

The wolf trotted on steadily, climbing all the time, zigzagging across the slope along the lone of a goat track. She did not seem to be heading for the nearest dwelling, which was sensible, but he would have expected her to head south to the angle of the bay where homes clustered thickly. Surely she did not intend to climb the mountain? She could have been raped by some passing peasant or fell into one of the gullies that cut the slope or down off the cliff edge into the sea. Damn it! He had never been so scared for anyone or about anything. What the hell was wrong with him now? His nerves seemed to have seeped out of his boots. He resisted the urge to cry out her name, unsure if his voice was even steady enough to carry, and not wanting to warn any attackers that he was near. If someone had Kaoru, he would open him up from neck to navel. He gripped his sword hilt, the leather creaking as he did so.

Ahead, Saitou gave a sharp bark that was a sign of a greeting; his tail began to wag as he bounded forward onto a wide flat area of short grass that cut the side of the mountain like a terrace. Perhaps it was an old abandoned one. Kenshin thought, craning to see what had excited the wolf and secure his surroundings, all at the same time.

And suddenly… there Kaoru was, demure on a rock, swinging her feet and admiring the view. There was a ridiculous straw sun hat on her head that she must have plucked from one of the many scarecrows along the way. A rumpled cloth and a flask spoke of a comfortable noon meal, and she was safe…Quite safe.

Kaoru turned at the sound of the wolf. "Hello!" she called, waving at Kenshin and bending to pull Saitou's ears as the wolf fawned round her feet.

Kenshin threw a leg over the saddle and slid to the ground, slamming his sword point down into the earth as he did so. It was insufficient release for his feelings. His legs shook, his hands trembled, even his vision started to bounce. He was unsure if he was angry or relieved, so he settled on the one he was most comfortable with. He stalked across to the rock and grabbed Kaoru by the upper arms and hauled her to her feet.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" He found he was shaking her and forced himself to stop, for she was having trouble answering him with her head jerking back and forth.

"I went for a walk to admire the view. I was bored sitting down there listening to Yahiko grumble about not having anything to do other than mend your shirts." She twisted in his grip. "Let go of me you barbarian-and stop shouting at me!"

"I am not shouting, I'm asking you a reasonable question." He lowered his voice to a mere bellow and gave her another shake. "I thought you were lost or that you had fallen down a ravine or that some peasant had raped you or-"

"Or that I had run away?"

"Yes, or that." They fell silent, glaring at each other. His eyes had flared to an electric yellow but were slowly starting to mellow back to amber…slowly.

"You are angry," Kaoru observed at last, watching him from under her lashes.

"Of course I am angry. I was worried about you," he let her go and added in a softer tone, "that I was."

"I thought only woman got angry when they were worried, I thought that men simply took well-planned, decisive action and remained cool and in control." The minx was taunting him.

"Well this time I got angry." _And let her make of that what she will; I have no idea what it means. _

"You are very impressive when you are angry," she said thoughtfully, deploying those lashes to lethal effect. _Has she the slightest idea what she is doing? I doubt it._ The tip of her tongue came out and just touched the swell of her bottom lip as she thought.

"Indeed?" Something inside him was building to a dangerous pressure. He was unsure if he wanted to strike the girl or crush her in his arms.

"But, naturally, I am not scared of you."

"You are not? I think that might be somewhat rash of you Kaoru Kamiya, that I do."

"Why?"

"Because I might do this." He pulled and lifted and in a heart's beat she was in his arms, her feet dangling, and her face on a level with his. "And then this." He growled, and kissed her. If she had struggled, he would have dropped her, the reasonable voice in the back of his mind told him. And he hoped he believed it. But she did not struggle, or kick. Kaoru opened her mouth under his, tasting of sake and honey and sweet femininity, and kissed him back with an untutored passion that made the blood roar in his veins.

Her hat fell off. He wanted to run his hands into her hair, but holding her as he was, he could not do anything else. With a snarl of frustration he set her on her feet.

"Ta…take that mail shirt off first," she stammered an she rubbed at her chest, sounding as breathless and disoriented as he felt. He was supposed to be in control of the situation. When the time came he had intended to seduce her slowly, skillfully, until she begged for him. And then, he had planned, he would initiate her into the act of love. And now what was happening? He was as hot and as desperate as the most callow youth.

The Battousai unbuckled his sword belt, throwing it to the ground, then bent and dragged his mail tunic and wooden armor over his head, letting it and the linen gi fall at his feet. The warm breeze ran over his damp skin like a caress as he straightened up and looked at her with amber rolling in his eyes.

"Are you scared of me yet? Because if you are, say so. Now."

Kaoru was looking at him, eyes wide, lips just parted. He thought he had never seen anything more lovely than the slender girl standing knee-deep in wild grasses, her gaze fixed on his face blazing innocence and trust and desire. For him.

… . . …

"No I'm not scared." She heard her own lips say the words and marveled at herself. Of course she was scared. Scared of the sheer power of him, scared that she didn't really know what to do, scared that she might not please him, terrified that she would let slip that she loved him.

Kenshin stood there in the sunlight, flexing his shoulders now that the weight of the armor was gone. His upper body was naked except for a few bindings on his hard stomach, the bandage on his arm and a thin band of gold on his upper arm that matched the ones on his wrists. The golden light made his skin glow. He looked very much like the pagan barbarian her peers had thought he was, standing there against the green trees, each muscle defined, a sheen of sweat like a gloss on a sculpture's statue.

"Undo your hair." Battousai grunted.

Kaoru lifted her hands and began to free the heavy braid, watching the way the breeze stirred his long hair on his shoulders, the prickle of his stubbled chin still a pleasure-pain on her lips. She shook out her hair and waited, her breath hitching in her throat.

"Kaoru." He took a long step forward until he was close in front of her. The heat came off his body like the sun. He ran his fingers through the loosened tresses, combing out the weight, the thick hairs snagging on the roughness of his palms. She reached up and stroked the curling ends of his as it lay on his shoulders. It should have made him seem less masculine, but somehow the thick length of it spoke of virility and life. She could understand the potent symbolism of kingship it carried.

He skillfully untied her obi, let it pool to the ground and she kicked her feet free of the sandals, feeling the grass smooth under her soles. Ever part of her was vibrant and alive as she curled her toes in it, seeking more sensations. Kenshin followed suit, dragging his boots off, hurling them aside. Saitou jumped to catch one, making them both laugh, and the apprehension left her like a cloud lifting.

Kenshin came and lifted her chin gently so he could study her face. The clear blue eyes that so often seemed cold or jewel-hard were gentle and clear. "Are you certain?" he asked quietly.

"I am." She nodded.

His thumb pushed at the corner of her mouth as it had once before and this time she let her lips curl up in a smile. "I want to kiss your smile." He growled. His lips, when they met hers, curved in an echo and this time she parted for him, gasping at the heat of his breath in her mouth, fascinated by the taste of him. The shadow of stubble on his face prickled but added an additional frisson of sensations to add to the layers of touch and scent and taste that were assaulting her.

His hands curved round her head, cradling it, angling her gently as he explored her mouth. She was conscious of the sheer strength and size of his hands and of the long fingers as they cupped her skull, conscious that here was a man strong and skilled enough to snap her neck like a grain stem and yet he was touching her with a gentleness that stole her breath and chased away her fear.

Cautiously Kaoru let her own tongue touch, darting it away with a gasp the first time, and then coming back to join his. She had no idea that kissing could be so complex, so all-involving. It seemed an end in itself, a source of pleasure, of communication, almost of speech. She freed her hands from where they had been crushed against Kenshin's chest and let them stray around his sides, running over the hard muscle, fascinated by the feel of masculine skin under her palms, enjoying the way his body tensed at her touch. With an expert twist of his hands his bindings fluttered to the ground, revealing a narrow, muscled stomach and she ran her hands across his hard abdominals.

Innocently she had expected that she would simply be a passive recipient of his lovemaking, like she was with the man that had bought her virginity. That he would take his pleasure from her body and she would simply have to allow it to happen. But instincts, now that she was in his arms, were telling her something quiet different. They were telling her to make love to him, to take her own pleasure, not just from what he was doing to her, but from her own exploration of his body. She had power too, power over him that was as strong as the power he had over her.

She reached around him, trailing her fingers down the valley that his spine created between the muscles of his back and then she let her hands slide down to where his waist narrowed and the tantalizing arrow of auburn hair that vanished into the band of his hakama. Coordination was difficult while Kenshin seemed intent of driving every coherent thought from her head with his kisses.

Clumsily she slid her flattened hands beneath the waistband of either side and used her fingertips to stroke as much of his narrow hips as she could reach.

It was enough to bring his head up on a gasp of indrawn air. "Kaoru!"

"Should I not have done that?" She asked, her hands frozen in uncertainty.

"Ah…" it took him a moment to compose himself. Kaoru wondered if she was doing something very wrong, or perhaps, very right. "I think we are wearing too many clothes." He managed at last.

"Three, I think." She said earnestly, trying to follow his thoughts. She had not used a breast band since she had started wearing barbarian dress, which left the kimono his trousers, and possibly linen drawers beneath.

"I wasn't counting." The Battousai caught her kimono and slid it off her shoulders. There was a tension, an urgency, in his voice that Kaoru had not heard before. _I am having this effect on him! _

Her hands, apparently quite capable of carrying on decisively while her mind was turning to a sort of sensual mush, were working the fastenings of Kenshin's Hakama. She freed them and with quite scandalous boldness, pushed them down over his hips, taking his drawers with them. Until they caught on something.

Kenshin hastily released her and untangled the cloth from the startling evidence of exactly what affect she was having on him. Kaoru forced herself to keep her eyes open even though every part of her wanted to slam her eyes tightly shut. Never seeing a man naked had installed some kind of fear in her, and she didn't want to be afraid of Kenshin.

"Oh!" wide-eyed, Kaoru took a step back, staring at the body standing naked in the grass. "oh…" _no, that was not physically possible_.

"Don't worry about it." Kenshin pulled her back against him, still faintly exclaiming the impossibility. The panicky thoughts were quickly drowned in a fresh onslaught of kisses, not so gentle now. They were demanding, forceful, and reduced her to trembling need, even as she curled her arms around his neck to pull his head closer. The hot, hard pressure against her belly reminded her of what she had just seen, but somehow it was less frightening, more exciting.

With a growl Kenshin took the neck of her kimono and pulled the garment off her shoulders without lifting his mouth from hers. It hung from her arms as his hands found her breasts, bringing gasps of delight against his lips as she stroked and fondled. She was moaning now against his mouth, arching into his body, desperate for some sort of release from the new, terrifying intensity of the feelings that were possessing her body. She wrenched her mouth from his to plead.

"Kenshin, please…" She suddenly felt fear and she covered herself as his amber eyes burned as he watched her. "Please, I feel so…"

Kenshin stalked forward, just one single step at took her in his arms and bore her to the ground. He twisted to cushion her body with his, then rolled her onto her back on the hot, springing grass. His hands were everywhere, stroking, teasing, bringing her quivering flesh to an agony of arousal. He shifted his weight over her, nudging her legs apart with his knee. He lifted his mouth and with the release from that sensual onslaught, her fears flooded back.

"You are…will it hurt?" she couldn't recall if it hurt the first time or not. Kaoru was so terrified that first time, she was sure she was like a wooden doll than a pliable human body.

"No," He said firmly, looking down into her eyes. His hands slid between her thighs, into the tangle of hair, into the hot core of her and Kaoru gasped. Her head falling back, her eyes closed. His fingers moved as though they knew her body already, teasing, caressing, touching part of her that had her gasping and arching towards him. He moved his touch, pleased that her body was now ready for him.

She felt him shift, then without warning he surged against her, filling her, driving into the heart of her with a thrust that filled her with exultation, then a shock of pain that had her eyes flaring wide with shocked betrayal. "You promised!" She said as her clutched tightly to him, moisture stinging in her eyes.

"I did not promise." Kenshin growled as he forced himself to hold absolutely still. "The fool that took your innocence must not have been very endowed." And it must of have been quite a while from that moment, for she was as tight as a virgin. Finally he couldn't hold himself any longer. As soon as he felt her grip relaxed, he moved slowly.

He was stroking gently, the rhythm stretching yet soothing. The pain did not return, even the residual soreness began to vanish as Kenshin's fingers caressed her temples, brushed lightly where heat and passion had stuck the fine hairs to her skin. The sensation of being utterly filled, utterly possessed was overwhelming, but Kaoru realized she was no longer apprehensive. She let herself move with the rhythm Kenshin was setting and stared up in wide-eyed wonder at the elemental strength of his set jaw and ridged muscles. She traced over the map of scars on his chest with her finger tips, memorizing each one. His eyes were closed. She had somehow assumed this would be a simple easy thing for a man, yet he seemed as intent and intense as she.

Even as she thought it, he opened his eyes and smiled at her as his fingers brushed again into the tight heat of her body, squeezing between their joining. The spiraling, tight sensation, reaching for what she did not know and then as he thrust deep and slow…the world spun, fractured, disintegrated into nothing but pleasure and darkness.

* * *

A/n Woot! It's about time those two got together. I struggled a little because it felt very out of the blue. But I guess fear for a loved one's life will do that eh? Oh but Kenshin has a secret. And Tomoe will return. Reviews are loved! Thanks for reading.


	11. In her Place?

A/n Hi everyone. Hope I didn't keep you waiting for long. And to some reviewers that voiced concern, don't worry, I did change the rating. I was going to change it when I posted the last chapter and give a warning in the note but I totally forgot. I in fact, remembered in the middle of work a few hours after I posted. And was like-"Damn I forgot to change the rating!" and of course all my co-workers looked at me for my random blurt. Lol anyways, Things are about to get interesting from here. Tomoe presses and Kenshin has a secret. Though we won't find out in this chapter, we will find out soon enough.

Disclaimer. I have no creative responsibility.

* * *

It was hot and dark and she was lying, crushed under a weight that pinned the whole length of her body. Strangely there was no pain, only, as her senses began to return to her, some strange twinges and aches and a warm glow of pleasure and a certainty that her entire body had experienced some force beyond her understanding.

"Kaoru?" Kenshin voice rumbled very close to her ear.

"Wha…what happened? Did the village explode?" It was far too hard to open her eyes.

He gave a snort of laughter and she realized that the weight was his naked body stretched out over hers. "I_ think_ I'm flattered by that, that I am. No, we made love."

"Oh. Yes." Her hands were out by her sides. Cautiously she raised them and found she could curl them around his shoulders. He begun to nuzzle gently at the angle of her neck and Kaoru gave a little whimper and clung tighter. "Are we doing it again?"

His mouth left her skin and his weight shifted, pressing down deliciously on her pelvis. "I want to.." Obviously by the evidence that was pressing into her flesh. "But-"

"But I did not please you." Her eyes flew open as she saw immediately that she was wrong. Kenshin looked very pleased indeed. Partly with himself-she was sure there was more than a little smug masculine delight at having reduced her to this state- but mainly, she could see by the tenderness of his expression, with her. His mouth was no longer a hard line, but soft and upturned, his swirling amber eyes had warmed to a dark violet.

"Yes Kaoru. You pleased me very much. But Yahiko is going to be worried about us; we thought we had lost you." His hips began to rock gently against hers and her body arched up to meet his. He had given up fighting his body.

_Lost you-not that I had escaped._ Kaoru realized. There was a difference, although she was not certain what it meant. "Do we have to go back at once?" she murmured, experimentally running her hands down his flanks and then gripping his buttocks., her fingers digging into the curved hardness.

"Yes, we have to, and if you do that-" his head fell forwards, a sweep of crimson hair curtaining her face "- it will be midnight before I have the will to stop making love to you."

Kaoru raised her head and kissed the sinfully tempting mouth just above hers and pulled his hips as hard as she could against hers. Kenshin started to growl as he deepened the kiss, his knee pushing her legs apart. It was frightening to make him lose control, but the wickedly feminine delight at being able to do so was far stronger.

"Oh, yes…Urgh!" A hot, wet tongue swiped across her ear and cheek-and from Kenshin's reaction, across him as well.

He rolled off her into a crouch, then sat down with a thump when he saw the culprit. "Saitou! _Bad_ wolf!"

"He was getting bored." Kaoru gurgled with laughter, sitting up to pull Saitou's ears. "Poor old thing."

"What about me?" Kenshin grumbled, his expression as he turned to look at her not matching his tone.

"Not so old." Kaoru murmured provocatively. "Unless, of course you were glad for the interruption?"

"You-" he leaned to her shoulder, then rocked back on his heels. "If I touch you again now, it will be dark before we get back, that it will."

Kaoru watched him from under lowered lids as he got to his feet as lithely as he had when he was fighting. The movement of his muscles fascinated her as he walked about the meadow, quite unselfconsciously naked, retrieving items of clothing and finding the boot Saitou had made off with. He was beautiful. It was a ridiculous adjective to apply to someone so overwhelmingly masculine, but the combination of proportion and height and coloring could be described in no other way.

She sat up, curving her arms around her knees, and started quite openly, schooling her face from the wide smile she wanted to give way into an expression of calm.

"What are you looking at?" Kenshin demanded, one foot into his hakama leg, the other just lifted. Even in that position, a difficult one to maintain with any dignity, his balance was perfect.

_You. Just you_. "Nothing, nothing at all." _I love him so much. I can't let him see how vulnerable he makes me. And how nothing can ever be the same again. _She shivered, eyes wide then dropped her head onto her crossed arms, suddenly frightened by what they had just done.

"Get dressed," he said abruptly, turning to whistle to his horse.

Kaoru felt a cold knot in her stomach. Had she overstepped the mark in some way? She was so ignorant of men, and of the act of love and what to expect in the aftermath, of how to behave. With uncharacteristic meekness she pulled on her clothes, tied her obi and waited.

… . . …

_Hell, she is regretting it already, all the light has gone out of her. She was looking at me with all the joy gone, and then she shuddered and could not meet my eyes. I don't know what to say to her now. Those great blue eyes…_ Battousai studied Kaoru's expressionless face, her downcast lashes, as he rode back to her_. I was clumsy, I hurt her, she's so small. Even not being a virgin, the act of love would still hurt her for some time to come_. Even as he thought it, his groin tightened at the memory of how tight she had been, how her body had felt, yielding to his. _I meant to make it as easy as I could, and I misjudged it, that I did. I gave her some pleasure, but…she puts a brave face on it, teases me….I want more. I want her trust, I want…what? Deep down she must hate me for taking her away, taking her just now._

"Here take my hand, put your foot on mine." He leaned down, grasped her wrist and pulled her up easily, turning her so she ended up sitting sideways behind him. After a moment's hesitation, slim arms encircled his waist and her body pressed against his back.

What to talk about? How to talk to her? All his sexual encounters before now had been uncomplicated, friendly. You had fun, took and gave pleasure, then lay there afterwards idly talking, drinking perhaps. When you were rested, you parted as casually as you had come together. He knew he had learned to be skillful at lovemaking. He enjoyed giving pleasure, enjoyed the softness and inner strength of women, their moods, their laughter-but this one he could not fathom.

"It won't take long to get back down," Kenshin tossed back over his shoulder. She had probably had more than enough of him and wanted to go find Megumi for some feminine company and reassurance. He sat up straighter so that only her clasping arms touched his body. He was feeling guilty, a very unfamiliar state. He could recall losing his virginity, a clumsy, fumbling, wonderful experience. It would not be the same for a woman; though he knew she hand already sold her virginity some time ago, perhaps a handful of years ago. Still he wondered if he had given her pleasure, he wasn't as gentle with her as he should have been. He assumed that after being deflowered she would be somewhat active. The pain he caused her proved that, that one encounter months or even a couple years ago had not only been her first, but her only. He was sure he had given her _some_ pleasure; that she had clung to him, kissed him back with fervor. At the time she seemed to enjoy it, while she as in his arms, had wanted more- and now, afterwards, she was regretting it. It was as though he had picked a lily and its tender leaves and petals were wilting, bruised, in his hands.

They rode in silence until they emerged into the camp ground. "We move tomorrow, that we do." He said curtly. "With any luck Yahiko will have packed away everything we do not need tonight." He expected questions, but got none. "Here, let me…" But as he reined in and twisted to help her down, Kaoru slid off the big horse and stood on the trampled earth as though uncertain where to go now. _She does not know where she belongs anymore. _He thought with a twist of his heart.

"Kaoru."

"Yes?" She looked up, the wide blue eyes shuttered and wary.

"Why did you let me?"

There was a long silence. She didn't pretend not to understand him. Then she said one the one thing he least expected, her voice cool. "Because I am yours." Kaoru turned on her heel and walked steadily toward the wagon.

… . . …

Yahiko was sitting, back against a wheel, rubbing oil into the leather of his saddle. He looked up at the sound of Kaoru's approach and his face split into a grin. "Hey! I thought we had lost you. Where did you go?"

"Just for a walk up the mountain. The view over the bay is lovely from up there and there is a cool breeze." She kept her voice light and cheerful. "What will we have for dinner?"

"Fish. I've cleaned it and skewered it and Megumi brought some green stuff and rice. She is worried about you. He bent his head over the saddle again and added. "She said to go and see her when you get back. I'll cook the fish if you like."

"Why, thank you, Yahiko." Kaoru was surprised, and it must have shown in her voice. The youth wriggled uncomfortably and muttered something. "What?" Kaoru knelt down next to him.

"I just said, I was worried about you. I know I haven't been very friendly sometimes. Sorry." He wriggled his shoulders awkwardly. "You're good for him."

"Who? For Kenshin?" She could feel the blush rush to her face. "How?"

"Don't know." Yahiko appeared to be out of his emotional depth. "You just are."

Kaoru didn't know what to say. Her feeling were in enough of a turmoil as it was, without trying to fathom out what Yahiko meant about Kenshin, or why he was apparently prepared to like her now. "Thank you." She managed at last. "I don't blame you for being suspicious of me at first. I didn't much like being here with you both either."

"You do now?"

"I…I really don't know." It was days since she had thoughts of escape, but it was not fear or acceptance that was keeping her here. It was, she realized, a sense of belonging. That, and the fact that, against all sense and caution, she was in love with Kenshin. "I'll go see Megumi."

The need for female company was pressing, and that was another change. Before Kaoru had always kept her thoughts to herself, lest they trickle their way to their Geisha Mother. If she had some random encounter with a man in the city she wouldn't have dreamed of confiding in a friend about it. It was welcoming to have Megumi's good sense.

"He found you!" Megumi was playing with her youngest daughter, but she shooed the little girl off to play with her brother when she saw Kaoru's face. "Are you all right?"

"Yes. Yes, I'm perfectly all right." She sat down on the stool Megumi pushed towards her and stared at her own clasped hands. "I think."

"He made love to you?" The other woman pulled a stool close and put her arm around Kaoru's shoulders.

How did that woman do that? Was the news all over her face?"Umm."

"Do you want to ask me anything?"

Kaoru shook her head. She knew all about it, it wasn't her first time and her geisha Mother and older geisha sisters had told her all she needed to know about sex. "I…it was…I enjoyed it."

"Ho Ho! Well, good! I should hope so, with a man like that!" Megumi laughed and hugged her. "And better after the first time, I promise. You won't be so nervous and you'll enjoy yourself even more." Kaoru stole a sideways look and saw a flicker of anxiety cross Megumi's face. "When he-" she glanced to see where her children were. "When he finished, did he finish inside you or outside you?"

"Megumi!" Kaoru could feel her face reddening. "What does it matter?"

"It matters if you don't want a baby." She said, sitting up, rubbing her swollen stomach.

"Oh." _Stupid Kaoru_. Naively she had not thought of that, even with the constant reminder of Megumi's rapidly increasing figure, and the warnings of her Mother. "Inside."

"Ah." Megumi took a deep breath. "Well, not to worry, and if there is one, Kenshin will look after you both."

"Yes." Kaoru said flatly. "I'm sure he will." She had not been able to think beyond the next day about what the future held for Kenshin and herself. A baby was impossible to imagine.

"You love him, don't you?"

Kaoru was so preoccupied that she answered without thinking. "Yes. Oh yes, so much. Megumi-you won't say anything? Please don't." She caught the other woman's hand in hers.

"No, I won't but he will surely know…I don't understand why he has not guessed it already. I could see it when he was wounded, even if you couldn't!"

"I am his slave." Kaoru said flatly. "He owns me; he does as he wishes with me. Now he is kind to me, and he seems to like me. He seemed to like having sex with me. Soon he will need to make a good marriage- to Tomoe probably. I do not want to be the slave he-" She struggled to find the right words but could only spit out the words she felt were true. "The girl he _uses_ when he wants a change from his wife. I do not want to bring up children who have no father and a slave for a mother."

"He doesn't have to marry Tomoe." Megumi said slowly.

"What?" Kaoru stared at her. "Marry me? Is that what you are saying? You know that is not what he needs. Yahiko says Kenshin is King-worthy, that when Aoshi dies he is a contender to succeed and be leader. For that he needs the right wife who will bring him alliances, doesn't he? How many swords will I bring to his side?"

"They say that Aoshi's brother-in-law will marry Takeda's sister. His own wife is long dead."

"His sister?! There is a slight difference." Kaoru pointed out dryly. "That would strengthen the brother-in-law's position, wouldn't it?"

"Yes. With those who think, like Aoshi, that we should be some kind of new kingdom."

"What does Kenshin think?"

"Ask him. You may not be married to him, Kaoru but you are his woman now. Talk to him."

Kaoru nodded and got to her feet, pressing down on Megumi's shoulder to stop her from rising too. Megumi caught her wrist. "When are your courses due?"

"In a day or two."

"If they don't start then come and talk to me and we can go and talk to Kenshin about more than politics."

… . . …

Her courses came and Kenshin made no move to so much as touch her hand. Kaoru wondered if Megumi had said anything to him, and then became convinced of it when either he or Yahiko carried the water, lifted the cooking pots and lugged the firewood. She spent a day being embarrassed, then decided that the benefits outweighed the discomfort and let them do all the manual work.

And the cramps she had suffered before had vanished, she realized with delight. Whether it was simply that she was fitter than she had ever been, or whether it was a welcome outcome to making love so close to her time, she had no idea, but she felt well. If she had not been in such a state about Kenshin, she would have been unconditionally happier too.

At the end of the week they were nearing Osaka. The journey had been slower the further they went. It was hotter despite the fact they were into October, the road wore the landscape raw and difficult. There was an edginess about the way the men scanned the horizon constantly, the number of outriders patrolling the hills, the way the woman kept the children closer.

Kaoru realized that Kenshin was remaining as distant as a man who ate and slept every night next to the same wagon as her could be. Was it simply the same tensions that gripped them all, the sense that the closer they came to the ocean, with most of Japan at their back, the more vulnerable they all were? Or had Megumi told him she was in love with him, and he was avoiding her because of that? Or did he fear she would expect him to make love to her again and he did not want to? _Talk to him_, Megumi had said. Well, she would of if she could, for she had a head full of questions, but no chance to ask them.

But he had time to talk to Tomoe, she noticed, watching them through eyes narrowed by sunglare and suspicion as they stood in the shade of a grove of trees encircling a well. The boys were raising water to tip into the long troughs for the livestock and horses. Because their rest would last over an hour and they may as well water the animals. Tomoe had sauntered up, hips swinging in a predatory prowl that had Kaoru hissing with dislike. Instantly she had taken her water jug and gone back to the wagon, leaving them alone.

They made a handsome pair, she thought miserably. They were both strong, even though Tomoe cut a very feminine figure. Kenshin was tan from the sun, so was Tomoe. Not pale as the white make-up Kaoru used to wear as a geisha. Though, Kaoru was sure that by now she had roasted into a tan as dark as Kenshin's with her weeks in the sun. They were both so obviously with shared understanding and backgrounds. Tomoe was flirting, Kaoru decided, watching the way she gazed intently into Kenshin's eyes as he was speaking, the way the full red lips parted in little exclamations at what he said. The woman raised one elegantly long hand to touch her hair, allowing the sleeve of her tunic to fall back, baring her arm, and thin gold bangles chased themselves down, chiming like bells.

Battousai seemed intent, watching her. He smile and she immediately laughed, a sycophantic tinkle of amusement that grated on Kaoru's nerves. Tomoe turned to go, then glanced back over her shoulder, deploying her long lashes in a demure look that sat oddly with her almost physical self-assurance.

"Makes you want to throw up, doesn't it?" Yahiko observed.

"Yes." Kaoru agreed fervently, then caught herself. "What do you mean, Yahiko?"

"You know. She's all over him, expects to marry him. She'll be a pain in the butt when she does," he added gloomily. "Bossy cat."

Kaoru coughed back her laughter. She really shouldn't encourage him to be rude about the daughter of a powerful ally to his master. With masculine predictability, Kenshin was watching the retreating view of swaying hips with interest.

"She's very attractive." She said, trying to be fair.

"Huh! He's just bewitched by her tit- um, I mean…" Yahiko flustered a little before falling silent, blushing.

"Well, they are handsome tits" Kaoru said, straight faces, reducing him to whoops of adolescent laughter.

The silly joke lifted her spirits a fraction, making her feel as young and careless as the boy. Then she looked back at Kenshin and felt her stomach contract with longing. She and Yahiko might scoff at Tomoe, but the dark-haired woman was the one who would win, and make both their lives miserable.

"I'm going for a walk." She said to Yahiko. "I'll take Saitou so don't worry." The big wolf trotted at her side as she followed an old track along the river bank. After ten minutes strolling, it widened out and bent to cross the river by an ancient arched bridged, scarcely wide enough for one laden mule. Kaoru walked up and leaned on the parapet, staring down into the crystal-clear water beneath her. It was the color of Kenshin's eyes, just there at the edge of the shadows, she thought. Fish flickered over the pebbles, weeds rippled in the current and a little further down a late season blossom floated on surface. It was peace.

Saitou's head turned, the long muzzle lowered, then he gave a gruff bark of welcome and his tail began to wave. Kenshin .

Kaoru started to straighten up as he strode up the roughly laid slabs to her side. "I told Yahiko where I was going." She started defensively.

"I know. I wanted some peace too." He came to stand behind her. Kaoru lowered her forearms back onto the railing, seeing that Kenshin was not upset with her.

"There's fish here, but they look too small to eat."

Kenshin moved closer, his gi brushing against her, then he was leaning over, his hands braced either side of her elbows, her body trapped between his and the stone of the bridge. "Show me."

"There, see in the shadow." She swallowed, wondering why he had not stood beside her.

"I see." He bent his head and she felt his hair swing down to brush alongside the sensitive skin of her neck and shoulder. His hands moved to clasp her hips and he pulled her back against him in one smooth motion.

Kaoru gasped. He was obviously aroused. She wriggled, trying to stand up straight and turn away. What was he thinking? But Kenshin growled. She stood still at the warning. He began to bite gently up the column of her neck while one hand came around her. Then her kimono was being pushed up and she felt the friction of his hakama pants against the back of her bare thighs, then buttocks, a moment past then she felt hot flesh pressing against her.

"Kenshin!" She tried to turn, but he held her, bending her forward, holding her still. "Tomoe-"

"Tomoe's not here."

What did that mean? That if she was, he would be caressing _her_ body? She was not going to be Tomoe's replacement.

His hand slid intimately between them, then between her thighs. Kaoru clamped her thighs together but his knee pushed her legs apart. His fingers slid into the core of her with deadly accuracy. "You are ready for me." He whispered in her ear. "Tell me to stop and I will."

"Yes!..no." But how? He braced himself over her and slid into her heat with a gasp of pleasure that forced an echo from her own lips. Trapped, penetrated, filled with shocked delight, Kaoru gazed down helplessly into the water below and saw her own reflection, Battousai's behind her. It was surprisingly arousing. He began to stoke slowly in and out, his clever, wicked hands knowingly caressing every sensitive part of her, forcing shameful moans from her throat. She arched her back against him.

"That's right Kaoru." His breathing was hoarse in her ears, the spiraling tension was gathering faster, harder, more intensely than before. Almost sobbing, she surrendered entirely to the demands of their bodies and felt the world splinter as he pulled free from her and convulsed against her back with a guttural cry. Below her, the water seemed to spin into a whirlpool, sucking their reflections down into the depths.

* * *

a/n For some reason this does not bode well for me. I would have the same feelings as Kaoru here. It does feel like Kenshin is using her. Perhaps that is his secret eh? Oh the plot thickens even as I write this. A baby would throw the whole thing for a loop wouldn't it. Poor Kaoru. Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are loved!

p.s. I have posted a poll about what Kenshin Couples I should write about in my next series of stories. Please go on my profile and pick you favorite couples you want to read about. Pretty please! It will help me out a great deal.


	12. To the Sea

A/n Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews. This chapter isn't much; it's mostly just to help transition the first part of the story to the next part. I guess I could have made this and last chapter one large chapter, but figured this way would be best. I think. Anyways, It's late and I'll let you get right to the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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It seemed Kenshin must have picked her up and carried her, for Kaoru came to her senses sitting on his lap. He was leaning against the trunk of an old tree.

"Mmm." She rubbed her head shamelessly against his shoulder, reveling in the scent of him, the musk of their lovemaking, the aroma of crushed herbs where his steps had torn them.

"What is this nonsense about Tomoe?"

Kaoru had never felt any link of sensibility with her geisha Mother, but in that moment she found herself rolling her eyes in exactly the same way her Mother did when confronted by one of the male's more obvious masculine statements. The mood shattered; she scrambled off his legs and tugged her Kimono in place before she half kneeled half sat with a plop on the goat-cropped grass. "Nonsense? You flirt with her and then you make love to me and wonder why I question it?"

"I was not flirting." Kenshin narrowed his eyes and stared at her. "We were merely talking, that we were."

Kaoru snorted. "She wanders up, swinging those hips, pouting those lips, patting her hair and stand there gazing at you as if you are the most wonderful thing in creation, and you had your tongue hanging out."

"My tongue was not hanging out." He retorted with dignity, ruining the effect by laughing. "You're jealous."

Kenshin obviously considered that flattering. Despite the quivering ribbons of desire that still teased her body. Kaoru glared at him. _Oh, but he was beautiful_. Her treacherous heart sighed. _Like a big, lean, elegant hunting cat coiled there in the shade, waiting to erupt into lethal action._ "I have no right being jealous. I'm just a slave" she stated flatly. "But I have a right to resent it when you flirt with a woman under my nose and then saunter after me to take what you want because you cannot decently have it with her." Until she had said it, she didn't realize that was what she had been thinking. Now her stomach cramped with distaste. Who had he been seeing in his mind as he thrust himself into her? From behind she was sure she and Tomoe looked alike.

Kenshin moved so fast she did not have time to recoil or to be afraid. One moment he had been lounging against the tree trunk, the next he was on one knee before her, his hands clasping her shoulder.

"You are not, you have never been, just a slave." he said flatly, the very lack of emotion in his voice helped prove his words to be true. "And I would never use you like that, to state my lust for another woman. That demeans us both." A slash of angry color showed on his cheekbones as she nodded agreement with his words. "You truly believe I would treat you like that?"

"How should I know?" Kaoru asked, staring into the hard violet eyes. "I have never really been with a man as long as you; I have never been a slave. How should I know what to believe, what to expect from you, Kenshin?"

"Do you not know me?" His questioning look was as puzzled as hers had been as he sank back to sit on his heels, his hands still cupping her shoulder. "You see me every day; do you not know me at all?"

_I see him every day, I see him leading, fighting, laughing. I see him heaving water and sharpening his sword. I see him teaching Yahiko and watching over Megumi when her man is not there. I see him playing with small children and disciplining unruly warriors. And what is see is what he is: a brave, honorable, tireless man carrying the burden of his own destiny and that of his kin. His public face is his private face as well._ Kaoru realized several minutes had passes as they sat there, frozen like statues. "You are not a civilized man." She said slowly, then shook her head to silence him as he opened his mouth to agree with the obvious. "Do you understand how those men are expected to behave?"

"Like any man of honor"

"They are expected to show a public face, a face of civic responsibility and virtue. Whatever they are in the privacy of their own homes, once they are on the public stage of the street or their business or at a geisha hosted party, then they are different. That face is all important in delivering their civic duty, and that duty is to the city, to Japan."

She was working it out as she went along. It was never something you spoke of, although doubtless fathers spelled it out to their sons. It was simply the way things were. "it doesn't matter what a man is behind his closed doors-he can beat his wife, have sex with his slaves, create elaborate schemes to make himself rich at the expense of his neighbors-so long as his public face is correct. And it is the same with the Empire. The public face is what matters, what goes one behind the scenes-"She shrugged. "The ends justify the means, I suppose." Echoing the words of her Mother.

"But for you and your people, I do not think there is that separation-you are the same at your own hearth and in the leader's Council, making love or making war." Kaoru out up her hands and caught his, pulling them down so she could cradle them in her lap. "I am only just realizing that, forgive me."

His hands lay still within her clasp. "No, forgive me. I think we should start again. That we do. I thought your people treacherous, yet they are acting within their own concept of honor. You thought me two-faced, capable of taking and using you on a whim."

"For a civilized person to criticize another person for taking and keeping slaves would be a hypocrisy." She said. "I though you took what you wanted, when you wanted, because you were strong enough to do it, to gratify your desires. And I expected you to treat me no better, and perhaps, no worse than your horse, because I do not expect my monetary values is as much. Although…" She risked a small smile. "…it's a very ugly horse."

"Very." He agreed, an answering smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Now, I do not know what I am to you. You must marry and do so for advantage. Tomoe is an obvious choice; Megumi has explained it to me. You must forgive me, though, if I do not want her for a mistress."

"And that is why you would object to me marrying her? She would become your mistress?"

"I have come to enjoy the way we live now." Kaoru said slowly. "I am a slave and yet this seems like freedom. I like the people in my life now, I feel well and fit. I am involved in something momentous. But this is not forever. Sooner or later your people will settle in their new land and build villages and start farms and there what will I be? I will tell you-I will be at Tomoe's beck and call, no better than that poor child who was killed when you saved me. You must excuse me if that prospect fills me with dread."

"That will never happen."

"Why? Because you will never marry? I do not think so. Because you will let me go?" She paused as he shook his head. "No, you won't release what you have captured."

Kenshin's gaze was lowered, apparently studying his strong scared hands captured in the fragile cage of her fingers. "The world is changing, that it is. I do not know what the future holds, what I must do for the best. All I know now is that my king leads me, and all my kin, across the sea to China. He wants to make a new start, a new city with honor. I want that too, I want for my children the good things of this Empire and the good things of their heritage." Battousai paused.

"I do not now whether this is the best way to achieve that. I say to you, and only to you, that I argued against this course, that I did. I wanted us to stay in Japan, find a land with wide rivers and good pastures, where the seasons are gentle, not harsh. But I was overruled and so I will obey my King."

The big hands twisted in her, the long fingers slid between her own and Kaoru found herself looking down, not at a capture, but a joining. "When we get to were we are going, then I must do what I must, whatever that is. Until then, I will not marry, you have my word upon it, that you do." Kaoru's blue eyes flew up to meet his and Kenshin smiled. "Trust me."

"I trust you." Kaoru hesitated, then whispered. "And if there is a child?"

"Megumi has already whipped me for carelessness and I try to heed her." He looked towards the bridge with a grimace. "I'm being careful, but if there is, I don't want you to worry that I wouldn't acknowledge it."

Kenshin got to his feet, their hands still clasped, pulling her with him "Never fear…" The sound of a horn, a long drawn out note, echoed round the valley. "We are moving. Come."

_Come. Follow me, no walk with me. _Kenshin kept hold of her hand as they went together back up the track and towards the well-head and the sound of hundreds of people and animals beginning to move. How long would this closeness last? Kaoru gave his hand a squeeze as they reached the last turn in the track and then pulled free, running on ahead to help Yahiko, Saitou at her heels.

… . . …

They reached Osaka at last, with no fighting along the way, and no resistance as they entered the port city through it's opened gates. Either word had not reached the people of the vast army bearing down upon it, or, more likely, as Kenshin observed, the local population had decided that an easy surrender was better than to undergo the fate of the last cities they had plundered, including Kaoru's.

It seemed strange to Kaoru to be within the walls of a town again, and a civilized one at that. She should have felt at home, passing familiar-seeming blocks of houses, temples, and even a geisha house here and there. There were little markets on the street corners, the stalls empty as the owners had snatched up their wares and fled to hide before the torrent of Samurai savages reached them. There were public fountains, statues, and meticulously kept gardens but she found herself staring wide-eyed at them just as Megumi was.

They moved through the town like a tidal wave, sweeping aside the inhabitants as they passed. Then they were heading through, out the sea gates to the harbor and staring out into the vast sea. The prospect of the sea voyage was real now to everyone and there were wails of horror as well as excited babbling rising above the lowing of the oxen, unsettled by the salty sea breezes. Yahiko came running back, weaving through the mass of wagons and flocks of livestock.

"We're turning south," he called to each driver as he passed. "Out of the city, down to the plain beyond. There is water, pasture, room to camp."

"Where's Kenshin?" Kaoru leaned out and caught his arm as Yahiko reined in beside her wagon.

"With Aoshi." Yahiko's excited expression turned to one of worry. "Aoshi is not well, they say he has pains in his chest."

"Poor man." She said, prodding the oxen with the goad to make them turn in the direction Yahiko indicated. "Will that delay us, if he is not well?" She hardly knew what she wanted, or what was best for all of them. To go, or not to go? But they would not stay here, trapped on the edge of the country until the troops of the Empire reached them. And she wanted Kenshin, here, now. How long he would be hers? She didn't know, but every second was precious, and the seconds were running out, as though there was a sand timer in her mind.

"Don't know." Yahiko circled his horse, craning to see who still hadn't heard the message. "He will be with us tonight," he said in afterthought.

… . . …

Kenshin rode into camp late, long after most people had retired to their lean-to tents or under the shelter of their wagons. The guards patrolled the perimeter, solitary souls sat by their dying fires. Yahiko was snoring, he could hear the familiar sound wafting on the hot, still air even before he saw the wagon. Saitou's tail began to wave. Yahiko had told him approximately where they were camped; the wolf had guided him home. Home. He had never realized that before-that was what this wagon and its tent were. He had given up calling anywhere home years ago, clinging instead to the vision of a village somewhere, shady gardens, lush fields. A vision that Aoshi's orders to go south had dashed to fragments. It had become an impossible dream and yet now one slender girl with sapphire eyes and the courage of a warrior had given him a home wherever she was.

A drift of savory smells assailed his nostrils as he slid off the back of his horse and stood, his forehead resting against the saddle for a long moment, too weary to un-harness the animal.

Kami, but he was tired. It seemed as though he had been traveling for his entire life, and in the wrong direction at that. The grey turned its head and butted him impatiently. Kenshin squared his shoulders and straightened up as a slim shadow slipped under his arm and took the reins.

"Go sit by the fire. There is food in the pot, and warm water by the hearth." She pushed him, a kitten pushing a mastiff, he thought with an exhausted flash of humor. "Move, you big lump, how can I get the saddle off with you leaning on it like that?"

"Yes Ma'am." He murmured, straightening up and walking towards the glow of the fire. He folded up when he got there, not onto a stool, but cross-legged on the ground, his back against a wheel. There was the water and a towel draped across a stool where he could reach it. There was the pot of stew, the bowl of rice, more bowls sitting ready for filling. He washed his hands, splashed his face and toweled himself dry, then just sat there, eyes closed, too bone weary to eat.

Somewhere in the other side of the wagon he could hear Kaoru talking to the horse. It was obviously not cooperating, he thought, listening to her scolding. Eventually he heard soft footsteps, knew exactly when she had seen him by the way they turned from a walk into a tiptoe. "I'm awake." He said, eyes still shut.

"Eat something then." She ordered, in much the same tone she had used with the horse. There was the scrape of a ladle in the big cooking pot, the splash of sake into a cup. Then, "Why did you call me that? Just now?"

"Ma'am? You're the lady of the household, that you are."

She gave an amused snort. "Of course, look at me, mistress of two ox wagons, two makeshift tents and a cooking pot."

Kenshin reached up a hand, judging from her whereabouts by sound and snagged her wrist. "Mistress of me." He tugged. "Come and sit down."

"I will when you open your eyes and eat. You need your strength." He did as he was told, smiling sleepily up into her vivid face, animated by concern and lit by the firelight.

"Very well." He picked up the spoon. "Now sit."

For once obedient, Kaoru curled up next to him and began to nibble on a bit of rice. "Yahiko says Aoshi is sick."

"Yes. Heart strain, I think made worse by a fever."

"Are you tired because you have to help and support him?"

"We all do, those in Council." He spooned up the stew and found he was hungry after all. "This is good, that it is."

"Of course." He hid his smile. Kaoru was taking pride in her cooking, which had become better by leaps and bounds in the weeks of trial and error; but she would deny it vehemently if challenged. She would say that if she didn't cook then they would have to rely on Yahiko and that was too grim to contemplate. "Not all of you bear the same strain," she persisted. "There are those who have most followers, you have most influence, most to do."

Aoshi's brother-in-law lacked his charisma and perhaps some of his wisdom, but there were times, like now, when Kenshin was so exhausted, weary enough to sleep on his feet, he seriously considered forming an understanding with the man, besides he seemed more likely to become the next King. Leader of their people.

"Wake up!" He jerked awake before the bowl could slip from his fingers. Determined, he finished the food, drained the sake and thought about getting to his feet and trudging round to the other side of the wagon where he and Yahiko were sleeping under a width of stretched canvas from the big tent.

"Kenshin, there is a bed right behind you." Kaoru nudged him.

"Yours." They had constructed her a lean-to with rather more privacy than their own.

"Oh, go on for goodness' sake. It's hardly as though we had not slept together in the same bed before."

But not very often, Kenshin realized. Just the once, in fact. Since the bridge they had found places in the countryside to make love, creeping away like young lovers to tryst and coming back quietly so as to not wake Yahiko.

Not that Yahiko would be in the slightest doubt what was going on-his cheeky grin was evidence of that. Still, the desire to preserve Kaoru's modesty and an innate instinct for privacy made him discreet. But now Yahiko was snoring, deep in the sort of adolescent slumber that would take a Hun attack to rouse him from. And it was not as though Kenshin was going to do anything but sleep.

Kaoru's bedding smelled of her, sweet, spicy, female. Kenshin stripped off his clothes and lay down, not bothering with a blanket in the warm night air, He breathed deeply-and realized he could not sleep. Something, something on top of all the responsibilities that he knew how to cope with, was keeping him awake.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kaoru whispered, sliding into the tent. "Did I keep you awake clearing up?"

"No, and nothing is wrong." He lied. It was her, of course. The Lady of the household. Only, once they had landed in China, once they began to settle and establish _real_ households, what would become on her? He needed to marry, to raise children, to take his place in their new society. A geisha mistress could have no place in that. She was already wary of Tomoe, the obvious candidate for a wife; he could not imagine the pair of them co-existing peacefully for one moment. She was right to worry about the very same subject that day on the bridge.

"Then what are you thinking about?" She had curled up against his naked flank, her bare skin of her arms and legs soft against his side.

_Tomoe. _Not the most tactful thing to reply, however honest. _I must leave Kaoru here when we sail. Leave her with the most senior magistrate and sail away, out of her life_. He let his hand drift down her shoulder, over the swell of the side of her breast to the sweet curve and dip of her waist and hip. He would leave nothing with her but a memory; he had been careful ever since the bridge to withdraw and not risk making her with child.

His head fell back on the pillow. It seemed he had made a decision, he was certain it was the right one, and he felt as though someone was twisting a red-hot knife in his guts. "Thinking about what to take on the voyage." He said eventually, as she kept her head tipped up interrogatively. He could feel her eyes on him.

"You think too much," she scolded, slipping down towards his feet. "You need to relax."

The sudden fall of her hair across his belly was anything but relaxing as she knelt by his hips and trailed kisses along his body, across his chest and stomach and when the moist heat of her mouth reached his manhood and she took him between her lips, Kenshin was so shocked he reared up on his elbows. "Kaoru!" She had never done such a thing before, that she had not. And he had never once though about asking her, and here she was, when he was utterly exhausted- or perhaps not; his body was responding with enthusiasm.

Kaoru freed him and raised her head. "Lie back; let me make love to you."

"But you-"

"This is what I want, let me be selfish."

"But Yahiko's just on the other side of he wagon, that he is." Suddenly feeling like a embarrassed youth.

"Then be quiet." She said with a provocative chuckle as she bent her head to trace along the hardness of him with her tongue.

With a moan of surrender, Kenshin dropped back, his hands fisted into the bedding as Kaoru explored with hands, lips, teeth and tongue in wanton abandon. It became a battle of wills to be silent under her onslaught. When he reached for her she slapped his hands away and went back to torturing him with a skill that seemed to grow with every stifled moan and aching shudder of his body.

And then, when he could stand it no more, and his body began to arch in ecstasy, she shrugged her simple kimono off her shoulders and mounted him, she bent across the length of his body and kissed him full on the mouth, swallowing his cry as her surging hips pushed him over the edge. Yet he still had enough presence of mind and control that he lifted Kaoru's hip away, freeing himself before his seed could plant itself in her body. As he stilled, she wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly and the last thin he knew as he skid into sleep was the touch of her lips on his temple.

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A/n So we know part of Kenshin's secret…he wants to leave Kaoru behind. I wonder how this is going to work out. Seems like Kenshin is sure he's going to marry Tomoe. Like I said, this chapter wasn't much more than a little transition, the next chapter will be much better. Thanks for reading everyone! Reviews are much loved.


	13. To the Bathhouse

A/n Surprise! Long story short, dead laptop, lost story, no desire to re-write. But I hate letting this die when so many like it. My friend (who I did this writing exercise with, happened to have the raw version still on her computer. So I was able to get back on track finally. I had planed on taking this story down, as it was just a writing exercise and was never meant to be published. But I can't let you all down. I promised to always finish what I start. I'm not sure how often updates will come, but they will come. As all I have is unedited raw story to work with, and I've long forgotten the original direction it was going to take, I'm settling back to the original storyline. Perhaps a new idea will come to me. Ideas are very much welcomed as well.

Excuse any and all spelling mistakes. (I need my beta back)

Disclaimer. I don't own Kenshin or this storyline.

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Kaoru woke and lay, eyes closed, knowing she had a wicked smile on her lips. She had wanted to make love to Kenshin as she had last night for days, ever since she had recalled the erotic drawing of the act she had once seen scrawled across a wall. At the time it had seemed distastefully improbable. Now, as she learned to explore every inch of a magnificent male body, it was deliciously arousing.

But she had guessed he would not let her touch him like that, so the opportunity when he was tired and his guard was down had been irresistible. Still smiling, she rolled over and opened her eyes. Kenshin had gone. Kaoru sighed. He was going to be difficult about this, she could tell. He'd be gone all day and when he came back she was going to receive a lecture about behaving in a wanton manner. He was very protective, which normally made her feel exceedingly feminine, but, as he introduced her deeper into the arts of love making, she did want to be more adventurous herself.

Saitou came and poked her with his wet nose, grumbling, in the low growl that meant he wanted her to get up and find him something to eat. "Go and hunt, you lazy wolf." She scolded back, pushing him to one side so she could get up.

Yahiko had gone too. The men had left the devastation that they appeared to find necessary as a consequence of breakfast. But when that was cleared away, there seemed little to do. Kaoru strolled off to see if Megumi wanted any help.

She found her friend rubbing her swelling stomach and grimacing in discomfort. "What's the matter?" Kaoru felt anxious. She had had nothing to do with pregnant women, let alone with childbirth, and had a horror of finding herself the only one with Megumi when some crisis arrived. You boil water and found lots of towels, that was the limit of her knowledge. "Is it the baby?"

"He's fine." Megumi was convinced it was a boy, on the grounds that the bump was all in the front. This feed as logical as anything else about the process to Kaoru, so she accepted it.

"It's me. My city is so dry it itches, I'm hot and sweaty and washing out of a bucket doesn't help, but I'm far too clumsy to get into Kenshin's big tub, even if we could unload it."

"What you need is a proper Japanese bathhouse," Kaoru said. "Me too. I miss that more than anything. A relaxing time in the warm clean water, a rubdown sweet oils and fragrant powders-bliss."

"It sounds wonderful."Megumi scratched her arm absently. "What a pity we haven't got one."

"Yes," Kaoru agreed, then, looking out over the city, "but we have! They are certain to have public bath houses in the city, probably more than one."

"But we can't…"

"Why not? There has been no fighting, people are coming and going into town. The local people are not thrilled to have us here, but they aren't hostile."

"Us?" Megumi raise an eyebrow. "Have you become one of us now?"

Kaoru found herself smiling back, suddenly certain. "Yes, I have. But if it will make you feel better, I'll change into my tunic and my hair in the normal style and that will make things easier. Say you'll come- now I've thought of it, I can't bear not to, and Kenshin won't want me going by myself."

Megumi bit her lip in doubt, then grinned. "Come on, then. Sanosuke will look after the children."

… . . …

Feeling more than a little strange in her stained silk kimono, And with the weight of her hair braided and wrapped on top of her head, Kaoru purchased two flasks of oil, soap and two small pots of Rose scented powder from a stall outside the bath house. Kenshin had given her some spending money when they had reached the city, but she had yet to set foot in the place until now. Now she was glad for the coin he thought to give her. Though she was sure he didn't think she would wander into the city without him.

The stallholders had begun cautiously to return when they realized this - band of invaders were not going to sack and pillage and instead was prepared to pay for supplies. It was good policy, she realized. If Aoshi wanted cooperation in assembling a fleet, then he needed the local people to at least tolerate them.

"We will be provided with pals inside," she explained, making her way to the entrance archway. "I hope they have either separate women's bath suite or we have arrived at the right time. Some people don't mind mixed bathing, but I certainly do."

They were in luck. The baths were big enough for two separate bathes was and Kaoru rapidly skirted around the entrance where a group of men in simple white wrappings at their hips were clustered together in conversation and led Megumi into the woman's baths.

"This is the common room where we change. See, you put your things here." Megumi stripped rather nervously, clutching her towel around her unwieldy body as best she could. Kaoru took Megumi's clothes and folded them into a niche alongside hers. She tipped the attendant to keep them safe and then led her wide-eyed companion through into the washing room.

"Here we are, now sit down, relax and warm up a little. Then we will wash ourselves all over." The room was warm from the heaters set under the building to warm the bath waters. The two women sat on small wooden stools that littered the room.

There were several other women already there. They took no notice of the friends, continuing the laughing exchange of gossip, and Megumi began to relax. Then, Kaoru helped Megumi by pouring a bucket of warm water over her body, Megumi positively purred. "Oh that feels so good. Here let me do you." Megumi turned to take the bucket from Kaoru.

"But it might be too heavy for you." Kaoru protested, indicating her large belly.

"Pish, I've lifted heavier things this morning. A simple bucket of water will not hurt me." She said firmly, but with a smile.

… . . …

When they strolled out to hours later, glowing and with skin as soft as a prolonged soaking in hot water and oil could make it. Kaoru felt too relax to scuttle modesty through the entrance to avoid any lingering men. But two masculine figures walking around the corner of the entrance straight into their path brought her up short, automatically ducking her head. Then she realized that, while one of the men in front of her had bare legs below a long gi, the view of the other was all too familiar.

Bright white hakama pants were tucked into soft leather sandals. Kaoru's eyes rose past the hem of a gi died a deep rich blue. His hair was wet on his shoulders and he carried a soap ball in his hand. Kenshin stared at her with as much surprise as she was staring at him

"Kaoru!"

"Ah." Said the stranger jovially, "What a coincidence, this be the la-"

"These are two of the ladies from our camp, yes. Kenshin intervened smoothly. Not smoothly enough to cover up his companion's use of the singular. Whatever this man was, Kenshin had been telling him about her. Kaoru felt the blood drain from her face. Why? What possible reason could Ken have propelling a respectable citizen that he had captured a geisha woman?

"Good morning, "she said assertively, abandoning years of training in modest good behavior. "I am Kaoru Kamiya, to whom do I have the honor so speaking, Sir?"

"I ...Er. I am Kashiwazaki Nenji."

"I can see you're an important citizen of this city." She persisted with shocking brazenness. "Are you the governor, sir?"

"Oh no, my dear." Flattered and taken aback by this frontal assault by an apparently well-bred young woman, Nenji beamed indulgently. "I am the chief magistrate."

"Goodness." Kaoru batted long black eyelashes. Her stomach was knotting with a terrifying sense of betrayal, even as she filled for poise. It was becoming very clear to her: Kenshin was going to leave her behind. While she and Megumi had been relaxing in the woman's baths, they had been in the men's side, calmly arranging to dispose of her to this official. Somehow she kept talking. "How terrifying. I do hope none of us has done anything wrong."

"Not at all. We have just been agreeing how a, um...knotty problem might be suitably resolved."

"I'm sure you have succeeded admirably." Kaoru smiled at him sweetly. The taste of Kenshin's treachery was sharp on her tongue, like mental when one inadvertently bit into it. She forced herself to look at him. His face was unreadable, but she could see his shoulders were braced, his hand, which was resting with apparent casualness at the hilt of his sword, and was clinched. His lids were half lowered over clear lavender eyes, shielding all emotion. Perhaps he did not feel any, beyond the relief that he had found a solution to the embarrassment she appears to present.

My love. The man I thought cared for me. The man who is arranging my disposal neatly, conveniently. He's sending me back home. Back to a cold house of geishas. I will be a disgrace and to my father can marry me off to that complacent well bred idiot. And Kenshin can marry Tomoe.

The tears are pressing the back of her eyes. With all the strength encouraged she had learned these past weeks, Kaoru smiled at the magistrate."Goodbye, sir. I do not believe we will meet again."

There

His eyes flickered, and he looked uncomfortable, betraying the truth of what he and Kenshin had been plotting. "Come, Megumi, let us get back to the camp. We must be ready to welcome our menfolk home."

Megumi continued after Kaoru, until they were out of your shot. "What was that all about?" She demanded the moment they turned the corner. "I know you know and you may have sounded very polite, but I can tell you're furious."

"That bastard means to leave me with the magistrate," Kaoru stormed, all her hard earned control was vanishing the moment she was out of Kenshin sight. "I hate him." The effect of a spoiled a wracking sob she couldn't suppress. "When you all sail I'll be here, a disgraced woman sent home to my father to deal with. And Kenshin will marry that dark eyed witch." She dashed the back of her hand over her eyes. "I refuse to cry over him. He's two-faced and treacherous."

"Oh my dear."Megumi pulled her into the shelter of a shaded fountain. "Are you certain?"

"Yes," Kaoru said shortly.

"What will you do?" Megumi put her arm round her shoulders while Kaoru rubbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono. "If you go with him to China and he marries Tomoe, what will become of you?"

"I could marry Yahiko." Kaoru said darkly, then laughed abruptly at Megumi's face. "I'm joking." She fiddled with the edge of her obi while she thought. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I suppose I always thought some sort of miracle would happen and Tomoe would disappear."Kaoru straightened her shoulders. "That was bullish, there would be others."

"You could pray." Megumi said seriously. "There are temples here. We could go to one of them."

"Pray for what? That Kenshin decides on what's more important to him than his ambition to lead, more important than the chance of becoming King? He told me he would do nothing about the marriage while we were in Japan, that is all I can hope for. I was a fool to expect anything, but I did at least believe he would discuss things with me."

"What will you say to him?"

"I have no idea." Kaoru stared blankly at the carved lion's head from which water was spurting. "I have no idea at all."

They walked back by the way of the sea front. "So many ships." Megumi shaded her eyes with her hand and gazed around. The white harbor was filled with vessels. " Aoshi laid out his gold well as we came down the coast. Many have gathered already; surely there almost enough here now."

"Yes." Kaoru started to count, then gave up. "A few days to gather provision and then you'll be gone. I'm sure all of you are glad to finally find a place of your own. You should be glad."

"To leave you, though. Go to China? I do not know. Sanosuke does not say so, he is too loyal, but I think it is only Kenshin's leadership that convinces him that this is right, and I am not certain that in his heart Kenshin truly believes." Megumi pressed her lips together, unsure if she was saying too much.

"Then why do they do it?" Kaoru demanded, suddenly furious with every boneheaded man in the world.

"Because they have given their word and their fealty unto death. Kenshin will argue with Aoshi until a decision is reached, then he will walk to the fire with him, right or wrong."

… . . …

Back in the camp Kaoru persuaded Megumi to leave her and go back to her children. Then she painted her temper on the tent site, cleaning and sweeping, shaking out clothes and chopping vegetables in a whorl of activity. But it could not stop the thought of something horrible in her head, the constant treadmill of pointless, unanswerable questions.

When the men finally came home she was waiting. " Yahiko please go see your sister, I want to talk to Kenshin." The youth blinked at her tone, the total lack of greeting, but turned his horse's around and road away without a word. The rapid glance he threw Kenshin was not lost on Kaoru: Yahiko had known something was wrong already.

"You do not order my man, any of them, ever." Kenshin said flatly, getting down from his horse. He obviously believed this was the best form of defense.

"I order whom I please," she retorted. "You have lost my respect and with it any obedience I might show you."

"I am not going to discuss it." Knowing she was staring after him, he led the big gray off to the horse lines.

Kaoru waited while he took his time coming back. "Discuss what?"

"Whatever it is you have put you in this mood."He walked over to the water bucket and began to wash.

"I did not heat the water- after all; we all washed today, did we not."

Kenshin toweled his face briskly. His eyes were shuttering again. Kaoru thought. It was becoming difficult to read his expression.

"I did not discuss my business with you."

"I am not interested in your business, it is when you discuss mine that- come back here! How dare you turn your back on me when I'm speaking to you!"

He spun his heal, the violence of the movement bringing them closer in front of her. It was as much as Kaoru could do not to flinch back. "I do as I please."

"And no slave dare answer back, no doubt."

"You are not a slave, you know that. How could you not, from that first night when you cried in my arms…?"

"What?"

" You cried in your sleep, I went to you. You think I treat every slave like that?"

"I thought it was a dream." She shook her head, forcing away the image of him cradling her so gently.

"You saved me from rape and probably worse, but then took me away by force. Mine, you said. You took me from everything I knew, from my home, and now you plot to uproot me again, this time to throw me back. Could you not even discuss it with me?"

Kenshin stared down at her, the rays of the sunset coloring his face so that he looked at a gilded idol. Every emotion was contained; he was showing her the face he showed an opponent, without a flicker of weakness for her to read.

"I do what is best for the people in my care."

"And this is best? I have tried so hard to become what you wanted. I have learned to cook, clean, and i do so. I have tended you when you were wounded; I have done my best with your ways." Her hands gestured wildly as she spoke.

One red eyebrow rose slightly.

"We share our bed- and don't think I don't blame myself as much as you for that. I wanted you, with all that I am. I didn't want to be an inconvenient to you, so you pack me off to a man who will despise me, for he knows all too well what I have been to you."

"He can hardly begin to guess," Kenshin said softly, his eyes on her face.

"Oh, yes, he can! You send me back to be the disgraced daughter of a respectable household, a ruined geisha and all the ones I have ever known, all the people I love, will be lost to me." Her eyes were glittering with tears, but she fought them back. Then his face changed, it was blurred, but she did not miss the way his brows drew together, the indrawn breath.

"Love?"

"Megumi is the best friend I ever had. I love her like a sister, I love her children, I want to hold her new baby in my arms. Yahiko is the younger brother I never knew and you would send me away from them. But why shouldn't you? Look at the unseemly display of emotion!" she waved her hands almost hysterically at herself. "I give you nothing you cannot get elsewhere. Another domestic drudge will be easy enough to find and they are whores enough, I am sure, to warm your bed until you marry Tomoe. Doubtless she is too prevalent to anticipate the ceremony."

"Do not compare yourself to a whore!" He was angry now- the mask had slipped. He took her by the upper arms and shook her.

Kaoru stared at the passionate, sensual male. " Not such a hard life. No money exchanged hands, to be sure. And I was willing enough to learn. The man who is so willing to please my father that he will marry spoiled goods will enjoy the benefit of your tuition."

Kenshin snarled, jerking her towards him. "Will you hit me, then?" She jeered, too angry to be afraid. She was already pushing him, she didn't care how much it hurt.

"Never." Then he brought his head down and kissed her with all the violence locked in his lithe, hard body. His tongue thrust into her mouth, filling it, plundering the heat with the crude rhythm that spoke of why he wanted to keep her, what was he holding himself back from the very vestige of self-restraint he had left.

Kaoru struggled, reached up and knotted her fist in his hair and pull, her strength was nothing as she felt him set his neck muscles and resist her. Then he let her go as suddenly as he had taken her and she staggered back.

"You plotted to deceive me," she gasped, dragging the back of her hand across her swollen mouth. "When would you have told me? Or would you have just delivered me, tossed like a parcel, to the magistrate's door?"

"I would have told you the day we sailed," he admitted finally, pain flashed across his eyes for just a moment. "I did not want to upset you, that I didn't."

"Upset me?' she knew her voice had risen wildly. She settled for control. "You wanted to prevent this confrontation; you wanted to lie to me a long as possible. You have no honor. None."

"What did you say?" Kenshin had gone white under the lowering sun. The sun was almost set, the last red flare of the sunset turning him into a creature, not of gold but of flame, something terrifying from the pits of hell. His hair glowed, the whites of his eyes matching the yellow of his irises. His hand went to the hilt of his sword; this was the face his enemies saw just before they died. The face of a barbarian in a killing rage.

* * *

A/n… insult a man's honor…you shall die! Jk, I don't think it will be that bad, I hope. So Kaoru figured out that Kenshin means to leave her behind and send her back home. Poor thing. Anyways, ideas! I need them, I don't really want to go with the original plotline! Thanks for reading! And thank you for waiting for so long for a update. Reviews are very much loved, for it will tell me if this story is dead or not.


	14. To the Temple

A/n Hi everyone! Sorry it took so long to get this out. Thank you to those reviewers that keep bugging me to update. Hehe. It really helps. I love all the ideas everyone is sending me.

TexasDreamer- LOL your review made me laugh so hard. I can totally see that happening too. But yeah, poor Megumi.

Enough of my rambling. On to the story. Any editing mistakes are my own fault.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kenshin or this story.

* * *

They stared at each other, the words hanging in the air between them. They could not be unsaid. They could not be ignored. No honor. If any man had said that to him, they would be dead by now. But this was a woman, the woman who had burrowed under his skin, into his heart, against all reason, all sense.

He had hurt her, he could see, as much as she had just hurt him. And, from the stricken look in those wide blue eyes, she was bitterly regretting what she had said, where as he at least knew he was doing the right thing. It was like searing a bleeding wound with a red hot knife- agony, but the right thing. Something had to be done and to be endured.

"Do you mean that?" He realized spoken out loud.

"No. No, I don't mean that, I'm sorry for it." Kaoru closed her eyes for a moment. He knew just how the tender skin of her lids felt under his lips, against the sweep of his tongue. He forced himself to stand still and hear her out.

"You have hurt me beyond reason, beyond my ability to hold back my words. I trusted you and you have failed to live up to that, but it's my fault, for we have no agreement. I believe you have acted as you see best. You must forgive me if I hate you for it."

Kenshin flinched inwardly as she shook her head in frustration, searching for the words to express how she felt.

"You are an honorable man, I acknowledge it; I hope to never be in the power of another."

She turned and walked back to her shelter. "Kaoru-" Kenshin took one long step, and then stopped as she threw up her hand, eyes wide and shimmering with emotion.

"Your dinner is in the pot. If you touch me now, I swear I will take that knife and I will hurt… one of us." She raised the flap and vanished inside.

The long, aching sigh knifed his ribs. Kenshin welcomed the pain. It was physical, he could deal with it. Not like the pain in his heart, in his mind, in- he was very much afraid- his soul. He stood there, staring into the red heart of the fire, aware what was blurring his vision was not the heat, but unshed tears. When had he last wept?

The night he had left his family and gone to join Aoshi's household, that was when. Seven years old, skinny as a rail, all hands and feet he had yet to grow into. As terrified as a puppy thrown to the wolves. He had sobbed his heart out, his face buried in his blankets for fear someone would hear, and the next morning Aoshi-the king, by all that was wonderful- had stopped and looked down at him and laid a hand fleetingly on his shoulder. "My smallest warrior." He had said, and Kenshin never wept again.

Looking back, especially since his experience with Yahiko, he guessed the king had heard him in the night. But, Kaoru had been stronger than he had; she had not given way to her fears until sleep had overwhelmed her. Her words slashed at his nerves like white-hot knives. He had hurt her beyond reason, she said, yet even carrying that hurt like a wound, she had the grace to take back her accusations about his honor. He expected the woman of his own kind to have honor, to understand it. He had not expected that from a caged bird.

"Kenshin?" It was Yahiko, hovering anxiously just at the edge of the fire's reflected glow. It had become dark while he stood there.

"Come eat, if it has not burned. Kaoru has... gone to bed, that she has."

The boy did not come closer. "Megumi told me what you've done."

"And you think I'm wrong?" He snapped. It was unfair, but he had to hit out at someone.

"No, Kenshin-sama. If you decide, then it must be right," Yahiko said loyally, misery in his eyes.

Kenshin rolled his shoulders and forced himself to relax. "Come. You can tell me what you think. I will not be angry, that I won't."

"I... I like Kaoru. I don't want you to send her away."

"She loves you like a younger brother. She said so." Kenshin reached for a bowl and began to ladle meat from the pot. "Here, eat."

"Does she?" The boys eyes lit up. "She is very brave, isn't she?" he asked as he finally stepped forward and took the bowl.

"Very." Kenshin realized he had reduced the bread he had been holding to crumbs in mere seconds while in his deep thoughts. "She's going to need to be, to go back to her own people."

"You will send her back, then?" Even with his brow wrinkle in anxiety, Yahiko was capable of spooning food into his mouth. Kenshin wondered if he would ever feel like eating again. "Won't they be mean to her because she's been your lover?'

So much for discretion. The pain made him speak harshly. "Yes they will. Which do you think she will prefer? That, or for Tomoe to be her mistress?"

Yahiko's eyes dropped to his bowl and he did not speak until he had chewed for a while. "It's not easy, knowing what is the honorable thing to do, is it? I thought it would be easy when I was a man, that I would know. But it isn't"

Out of the mouths of babes. "Then learn from it," Kenshin said "We sail in six days."

… . . …

Kenshin woke in the night, thinking someone was moving in the tent, and then he heard the sound of weeping and knew Kaoru was crying in her sleep again. Kaoru would not consciously give way, not while she knew he was near. Kenshin lay there, staring up into the dark, fighting the urge to get up and take her in his arms.

He gave in, rolling quietly out of bed so as to not wake Yahiko, and crept round to Kaoru's side. He raised the flap to her section of the tent. At the slight noise the tan oval of a face tipped up towards him. It was Yahiko, hunkered down beside her, her hand in his. She had stopped crying and was lying peacefully asleep.

"Go away," the boy hissed, his face contorted with tears Kenshin knew he would rather have died than have seen.

He nodded abruptly and let the tent flap drop. Yahiko was growing up. His heart contracted. Jealousy? Of a boy? The boy took it upon himself to comfort Kaoru while he lay there undecided. Kenshin made himself stand up straight, dress and walk outside and over to the horse lines. He would walk the perimeter- there was going to be no sleep tonight.

… . . …

Kaoru woke to find Yahiko asleep across the entrance to her tent and Saitou with his head on her feet.

"Yahiko?"

He scrambled up, knuckling his eyes and looking uncomfortable. "What on earth are you both doing in my side of the tent?"

He looked away. "We were keeping you company. You were… upset in the night."

"Oh. Thank you," she said softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder. "That was very gallant of you. Where is Kenshin?" There, she said his name; it wasn't as hard as she had feared.

"Gone into the city. At least, that's what he said he was going to do early this morning. We are helping with loading supplies on the ships."

"Then you need to hurry and eat breakfast and go and join him." She said. He nodded and lifted the tent flap. "Will he be angry with you for staying with me?"

"Don't know." Yahiko frowned. "Don't care."

"He's doing what he believes is the right thing," Kaoru said. She had no wish to see Yahiko become disillusioned with his master. That would be a despicable revenge.

"He made you cry."

"In my sleep? Is that why you came here?"

He nodded and was gone, Saitou padding behind him.

Kaoru washed, dressed and gave them both food, and then sat on a stool in the sun; her hands clasped around her knees and trying to think of what to do. To go back would be to enter into a world of disapproval and disgrace. Her father was still wanted her to marry, but she doubted he'd accept her now. A young widow was one thing, a retired geisha was one thing but a woman who was kidnapped away a bedded by a samurai warrior was doubtless quite another. And if he did take her, there would be the daily unspoken thought that she was married because of pity, and, if something went wrong, and he would no doubt throw her history at her face.

Or she could try and make a living here in the city by the sea. But that would be difficult, given that the chief magistrate knew who she was. He had everything to gain by letting a powerful instructor know the whereabouts of his missing daughter.

And what could she do? She had no craft skills, no money to start a business. She eyed the wagon and the driver's box seat. If she was correct, that contained part of a fortune in gold. Gold stolen from her city- surely she had as much right to it as Kenshin?

But he would argue that they were collecting on Takeda's unfulfilled promises. And whosever it truly was, take it would feel uncommonly like stealing. Or taking it to be compensated for the loss of her freedom and purity. Which was an uncomfortable thought.

"Are you ready?" It was Megumi, Her husband Sanosuke was by her side. He was tall, with crazy brown hair and kind eyes. He looked younger than Megumi, his skin tight over muscles, and tanned from the sun. All her children were well dressed, their faces still pink from a good scrubbing. "We're going to the temple, have you forgotten?"

"Yes." Kaoru admitted, getting to her feet. "I had." She was respectably enough dressed, she decided, joining the others.

Megumi's middle son, Sansu , took her hand and grinned up at her. A front tooth was missing and had a light dusting of freckles, dark brown hair that stuck up despite his mother's best efforts with a comb and water and had his father's deep brown eyes.

What would Kenshin's child look like? She wondered, feeling the knife twisting her breast as she thought it. _What would our son look like?_ Could she seduce Kenshin before he left her? To do so well that he lost control and was no longer careful? Would once be enough?

And what kind of life would half-barbarian bastard child have back in her city, in a respectable household? Perhaps if she was in bad enough disgrace her parents would give her money and let her vanish to the many streets of Edo or elsewhere to set up a small business.

"Did you have a chance to speak with Kenshin last night about that matter?" Megumi asked, her voice light and casual so that Sanosuke and the children thought nothing of it. "Yahiko thought you might have."

"Yes. I spoke to him." It was an effort to match her tone. "He is determined upon that solution. I do not think I will change his mind."

"Change Kenshin's mind?" Overhearing, Sanosuke snickered. "He thinks long and hard, that one. Then when he decides, that is it. Bull-headed."

"Pig-headed, more like," Kaoru muttered. She wondered if there was a time when a woman was most fertile. Would Megumi suspect if she asked her? And was it fair to try to bring a child into the world without a father? No, she decided, if she could arrange it so there was no suspicion in this stigma. But what if she could not? The fantasy of a handsome purple eyed son helping her in a flourishing shop, were her newly acquired cooking skills drew a crowd of customers, faded, to be replaced by the memory of her father's face when he was in a rage, and she shivered. It was impossible, selfish dream.

"Here we are." Megumi stopped in front of the steps of what was obviously a new temple. The front was rich with inlaid stone, a doorway jammed with the orderly stream of well-dressed citizens and the smoke of incense and candles floated out to perfume the air. They filed in, their voices falling silent. The children were hushed by the high arched roof and the crowd.

Kaoru did not expect to be able to concentrate, but to her surprise the atmosphere, the rhythms of the service, the smells and the pools of light slanting down from the high windows, soothed her.

After a while she began to glance around discretely, shielded behind lowered lashes. The sight of respectable families seemed as alien as the first sight of samurai in their encampment had. She sighed, and a flash of red caught her eye.

Kenshin was down on one knee, his right arm resting on his thigh, his crimson head bent in contemplation or prayer. The light shone down from above, the dust swirling in the golden rays of light. It sparked off his hair and a breeze caused it to billow softly. The light glinted off the metal filaments of gold mixed in the crimson and it flowed down his back like a living thing.

She did not take her eyes from him. He was absolutely still, kneeling on the hard stone in the humble pose of devotion. Yet for all the still hands, vulnerable neck, the closed eyes, she could see the hard angles of his cheeks, this was no priest. No one, even seeing him now, couldn't mistake him for anything other than a hard man, a warrior.

And yet he had been gentle with her, always. Kaoru felt the love building in her heart until she thought it would burst, that she would cry out, that she would run to him. But she stayed still, her lips closed, her eyes fixed on him. She saw Kenshin open his eyes and then lift his head. The relaxed right hand closed and his head began to turn towards where she was standing and her breath caught. He had felt her gaze, felt her love, she knew it.

And then, a flutter of rich blue skirts. A figure moved to his side, blocking her view momentarily, and a tall figure stood elegant, hands clasped, eyes modestly lowered, In her ebony hair, a pure white ribbon, it's ends fluttered like swan's wings.

Tomoe.

Kenshin stood. Kaoru could see him lower his head and speak softly to the other woman, whose cheeks colored. She felt pain in her hands and looked down, opening them. Four white crescents marked each palm. With a murmur of apology to Megumi, Kaoru eased her way back through the crowd and out of the temple. This was not the place to indulge in jealous thoughts, or to feel the peace of worship rent by dislike. They looked magnificent together. Appropriate. Meant. And she had to accept it.

Yahiko was lounging in the shade, holding the horses. "Why aren't you in the temple?" She scolded mildly, perching next to him on the stone wall.

"Why aren't you? Tomoe I figure." He grimaced, obviously not expecting an answer, then looked up at the clear sky. "There's going to be a storm."

"Surely not. There isn't a cloud." She shaded her eyes and squinted up. "And it is hot."

"Hotter than yesterday," Yahiko agreed. "Can't you feel it? The tingling under your skin? The pressure on your temples? Storm's coming."

"I thought that was just the way I was feeling. But you are right, it is oppressive."

"And look at Saitou." The Wolf, uncomfortable in the heat, was pacing back and forth, the slanting bright eyes narrowed, his tail low.

"I'd better go back and start digging drainage channels around the tent and wagons. We're in a good position- up the slope, but not on steep ground. We won't get flooded, but if there is a cloud burst we could have a sheet of water sweeping down through the tents if I don't make the channel."

"Do you do this very often?" Kaoru blinked at his brisk efficiency.

"Only during the wet season. "He granted and swung up on his horse, tossing the reins of the other to Kaoru. "Tell Kenshin what I'm doing. I don't need any help."

He cantered off, leaving Kaoru sitting on the wall, regarding the ugly gray horse with some concern. What was she supposed to do now? Sit here like a stable boy in the full view of passersby and the worshipers until Kenshin came out of the temple? She could just hitch the animal to the nearest tree. People would be unlikely to steal it with the Wolf on guard, but Kenshin might be angry with Yahiko for leaving it.

She was still thinking when the worshipers began to file out. Kaoru hopped down, smoothed her clothes as best she could and tried to hide behind the horse.

"Goodness, has that boy of yours started wearing skirts?" Tomoe, of course.

"No." At the sound of Kenshin's voice, Kaoru got under the gray's neck, not willing to be discovered sulking. "Kaoru! Where's Yahiko?"

"He has gone back to camp. He says there's going to be a thunderstorm and he wanted to dig drainage channels." She thrust the reins into his hands. "Good day, Tomoe."

The wide, gray eyes shot pure poison at her, but the other woman smiled sweetly. "How novel, Kenshin, a female slave to look after your horse." She did not return Kaoru's greeting.

Kaoru flushed, biting her lip to catch back the retort. She was a slave, even if Kenshin didn't treat her like one.

"Kaoru is not a slave." Kenshin said flatly, making both women jump.

"Oh really? Then what exactly is she?"

'_Damn, he walked right into that one._' Kaoru thought with a flash of grim humor. _'What's he going to say? That I'm his lover?' _She nearly scoffed but as she caught Kenshin's eye and saw an answering sardonic look in them. It was back, that bond of understanding between them, and suddenly she could have laughed out loud.

"Kaoru Kamiya is a guest." He replied calmly. Tomoe's mouth dropped. "A guest who comes and goes as she pleases and is kind enough to take care of Yahiko and myself at the moment."

"Indeed, you have many geisha friends, do you?"

"No." Kenshin kept his calm. That seemed to be infuriating Tomoe almost more than anything else. "She's doing wonders for Yahiko's domestic skills."

With and undignified and unlady-like snort, Tomoe spun on her heal and stalked off, her immaculate silks flapping behind her.

"You've upset her." Kaoru observed.

"She has a temper. We value women of spirit sometimes, that we do." Kenshin was still frowning at the retreating figure.

"Does she own a sword?"

"I'm not even going to answer that." He turned back and regarded Kaoru seriously. "Are you alright?"

"No, if you want the honest truth. But I'll live. Nothing I'm going to say is going to change your mind, is it?"

"There is no good answer to this mess," he said, his purple eyes sliding over her with a look that was like a caress of regret. "I believe I've decided on the least bad one."

"Perhaps you have." Kaoru gave a little shiver. "Is Yahiko right about the storm?"

Kenshin turned on his heel and stared south. "Yes, see."

Far away, a distant smudge at the horizon, a thin dark line marked the division between the sea and the sky, where for days there had been nothing to show where one blue ran out and the other started. "That's why it's so warm, the storm is coming. Go back to camp and get ready for the evening meal but put everything that will be damaged by the rain into the chests. Take the tents down. Yahiko will move the heavy stuff out and put it under the wagons to make room inside for us, then we will stretch canvas over the top and tie it down."

"Is it going to be bad?" Seemed like a lot of trouble to go through for a thunderstorm.

"I don't know." Kenshin confessed. "We've never been here much before. But I will go down to the harbor and tell them to stop loading and concentrate on making thing secure. Kaoru-" He stopped, frowning. "I'm sorry about Tomoe."

There was no gracious way to answer that, so she simply said what she thought. "So am I."

* * *

A/n Ahhh, angst…only a matter of time before you decided to show up. Poo. I never did like making Tomoe a rat, but it's just and perfect part of her…for now at least. And it looks like Kenshin is sticking with his plan even though everyone else thinks he's nuts. But I have a feeling he's not going to have easy time giving her up.


End file.
